


Modern Romance

by bluesfortheredj



Category: Actor RPF, Welsh Actor RPF
Genre: F/M, Gwilym Lee - Freeform, Gwilym Lee POV, Gwilym Lee/You - Freeform, Male POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2020-01-13 10:54:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 50,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18467509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesfortheredj/pseuds/bluesfortheredj





	1. Chapter 1

I noticed her as soon as she stepped off of the Millennium bridge. Her face lit up at the sight of the Globe theatre and I smiled to myself as I recognised that look; it was one of wonder, and I was sure this was the first time she’d seen it. I stood as still as I could, not wanting her to notice me watching, and she diverted suddenly from her path when she noticed the view from across the river. Her phone appeared from her pocket and she snapped photos of St Paul’s before turning her attention back to the Globe. Another smile crossed her face as she slowly moved towards it, phone out and ready to take another picture, and she got her opportunity when the throngs of people thin out for a split second. She moved a little nearer to read the signs outside, then looked up at the crowd inside that were getting ready for their tour.

I’m assuming she’s on her own as no one has approached her and she hasn’t spoken to anyone yet, but I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with this information. There’s something about her that caught my eye, and I’m not one hundred percent clear on what it was, but I’m glad it did. She has black boots on with a small heel that clicks confidently along the pavement, black tights peek out from underneath a long striped dress which is covered by a black hoodie, and a black duster coat that she’s wrapped around herself. Earphones trail from her phone but only one of them stays in as the other hangs over her skull printed black and white scarf.

The only thing I can do right now is watch her to see what she does next. Her feet begin to walk away from the theatre, and she chooses to take the route that goes behind the end of the bridge rather than in front where all the crowds are. I can’t blame her, London is manic at the best of times, but then again it’s an advantage for me where I can blend in and go mostly unnoticed. Before I know what’s happening I’m walking through the mass of people in hopes that I get a glimpse of her again. Right on cue, she appears from behind the ramp and heads straight for the entrance to the Tate Modern.

This is it, if I let her walk in there without following, I’ll never see her again. Something inside me is telling me to go in as well, so I start to stride across the concrete as she disappears through the door. The bag checks work to my advantage after having slowed her down a little, and when I enter the doors she’s staring at the guide on the wall. There’s a low droning sound that’s echoing throughout the main part of the building, and she gives a small frown as she looks around, then spots the sign that explains it’s an installation and smiles to herself. When she looks up, her gaze almost falls straight upon me, and I feel myself redden at the close call.

This is crazy, it’s nearing stalker territory surely? But there’s something that’s pulling me towards her and I can’t stop it. If I talk to her, it won’t be creepy, right? Then at least I’m not following her around like some kind of weirdo. Shit, now she’s gone. I walk hurriedly towards the middle of the opening then spot her heading towards the stairs and I can’t help but follow again. She stops on the next floor and heads into one of the galleries, but this time I stay outside and choose a seat to sit on instead of walking in after her.

When she reappears there’s a tiny moment of hesitation, but then she walks confidently towards the escalator, and I jump up out of my seat to walk towards her. She’s walking quicker than before, almost as if to a beat that she’s listening to through that one earphone that still sits inside her ear. Sure enough when I get closer to her I can hear the oh so familiar beat of another one bites the dust, and I know I have to say something before she walks past. This is a sign, I know it, it’s too much of a coincidence not to be.

“Queen,” I smile, pointing to my ear to signal her music playing. She stops in her tracks as I step almost in her path, and she takes her one earphone out with an embarrassed smile.

“Sorry, bit loud isn’t it?” she apologises, and I shake my head furiously.

“No, not at all. Couldn’t blast it around this place instead of the constant hum, could you?” I grin, a little too wide maybe.

“If only,” she chuckles, and she’s perfect. The definition of an English rose with her fair skin, natural coloured hair and the slightest hint of a blush on her pale cheeks. Her lips are small yet plump, and her smile lights up her face. The only hint of make up on her is a thin layer of mascara that accentuates her already long eyelashes, and I try not to melt at the sight of her.

“Where are you heading next?” I ask, desperately wanting to make this moment last forever.

“I’m drifting,” she smiles, “no real plan.”

“Are you, uh,” I pause as I almost bottle it, “are you drifting on your own?”

“I am,” she nods, and I definitely smile too widely this time.

“Would you mind if I drifted with you?” I ask, and she briefly averts her gaze as she thinks it over. It was a stupid question, she’s got some strange man coming up to her in an art gallery and asking if he can join her as she wanders aimlessly. She probably came here today to get away from reality for a while and enjoy some alone time, and here I am ruining it.

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” she replies after what seems like minutes. She takes out her one earphone, unhooks the lead from her scarf and unplugs them from her phone before putting them away in her bag.

“Were you listening to The Game?” I question, trying to make some sort of conversation.

“You know your Queen,” she chuckles, and boy, do I know Queen, “it’s just a playlist.”

“Very good choice of song then!”

“Thanks,” she blushes, and oh my goodness, that blush on her cheeks is like a work of art itself.

“Shall we go up?” I suggest as I point towards the escalator. She nods so I let her lead the way, then we get onto the level that connects to the other building and we walk across the bridge. There’s another gallery to the left, so we automatically stroll into it in silence, and I watch her face begin to glow as she realises it’s all about pop art.

“I take it this was a good room to walk into?” I smile, and my face will surely start to hurt soon if I keep grinning like a fool.

“Very much so,” she beams, “the colours are so vibrant, it’s impossible to be unhappy when you look this type of art.”

I take a quick look around the room and agree, but my eyes soon settle back on her, and that’s where I want them to stay for the rest of the day.

“What do you think of this?” she asks, nodding towards the wall, and when I look at what she’s smiling at, a drawing of what appears to be three backsides greets me.

“It’s, um… Well the use of eggs is fantastic,” I laugh, and she gives me a smirk before reading the small description next to it.

“Spoiler alert,” she starts, then side steps over to me and bumps my arm in the process, “the eggs are indeed meant to represent testicles.”

She stays against my arm as I grin down at her, then she walks off to the next painting, and I’m left stunned. As if her beauty wasn’t enough, she has a wicked sense of humour as well. Bloody hell, just marry me already. Did I just think that? I don’t even know her name. Her name!

“So… I just realised I’ve been extremely rude and haven’t even asked your name...” I say as I catch up to her and she turns towards me.

“(Y/N),” she grins, “and you are?”

“Gwilym.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Gwilym.”

“And you too, (Y/N).”

We continue around the room where we put on posh voices and softly whisper amongst ourselves as we give our very best art critic impressions, and I wish I could frame this moment myself so it could hang on the walls here, because it’s art; it’s beautiful and intricate, and something only we would understand.

“Where now?” she asks as we exit this section with our arms brushing against one another as we walk.

“Have you been to the viewing platform before?”

“I’ve never actually been here before,” she admits with an embarrassed look.

“Then you need to go to the viewing level,” I smile, and boldly bend my elbow for her to link her arm through mine. Without hesitation her hand moves through the gap, and I have to remind myself that I’ve done enough grinning today already. I walk her towards the lift and by some absolute miracle we’re the only ones going up to the tenth level at that time. She gasps as we step out and walks straight over to the window, which leaves me a little deflated from the sudden loss of contact, but she soon beckons me over with a huge smile gracing her perfect little lips.

“Come on,” I chuckle as she lets out a light ‘wow’. I hold my hand out and she grips it tightly as I lead her out of the glass doors and into the cold air outside.

“Oh my…” she trails off, pulling her coat together with her free hand as the wind blows harshly around us.

“Yeah,” I nod, “beautiful isn’t it?”

“So beautiful. Even on an overcast day like today,” she agrees, then squeezes my hand when we near the edge.

“Are you okay with heights?” I ask, watching her face carefully as she gulps before answering.

“As long as I don’t go too near the edge,” she replies, trying to focus on the view. I step back then tug on her hand to join me, and her body visibly relaxes, so I slip my hand out of hers and wrap my arm around her shoulders instead.

“It’s all good, we can stay back here,” I reassure, and she leans into my body. We take the walk around the outside slowly, stopping so she can take photos of the view from every angle, and she never leaves my side, much to my absolute delight. Can I frame this moment, too? This is one I’d like to look at over and over again as well. When we get back inside we’re both a little wind swept, and I suggest a hot cup of tea, so I leave (Y/N) sitting at a table by the window while I get the drinks. She looks up at me when I return, and starts to laugh a little.

“What?” I smile as I place the cups on the table.

“Stay right there,” she replies as she gets her phone out and snaps a photo, “now you can sit.”

She turns the phone towards me so I can see what made her smile, and I chuckle as I look at the photo of my face next to the large sign along the top of the lifts that reads ‘everything is going to be alright’.

“Art!” (Y/N) announces, “a beautiful piece of art. We should print this and stick it up somewhere to see if they notice.”

“They’d notice that,” I laugh, “however, if it were you standing here instead of me, then it would certainly be considered art, and I’d come and see it every day.”

That was too much, way too much. She’s going to run away from the weirdo now. I brace myself for her swift exit, but all she does is smile up at me, unsure of how to react. Please say someone’s said something like this to her before. How could they not? I take my seat opposite her and wonder whether to broach the subject of seeing each other again.


	2. Chapter 2

She winces after blowing lightly on her tea then taking a sip and she places it back down on the table to cool down a little more before looking up at me, catching me staring again as I ignore my own drink. Her smile is infectious and I find myself smiling back at her almost immediately. Her eyes wander to the sign behind me once more and I notice she takes a deep breath as she reads it; maybe it was something she needed to see today.

“It’s true,” I say, her attention turning back to me, “everything is going to be alright.”

“You think?” she asks, and there’s a deeper meaning behind her question, I can tell.

“Of course it is,” I nod, finally picking up my drink.

She smiles wistfully as she takes in my comment, then watches as I take a sip of tea before trying again with hers and this time it’s just about at the right temperature. The sky outside was becoming darker with rain clouds rather than the lateness of the afternoon and I secretly hope it’ll pour down so we have to stay here for shelter. A faint sound from her bag draws her attention and she slips her phone out with a frown as she studies the screen.

“You couldn’t send that photo over to me, could you?” I ask, knowing it was a slightly less intrusive way of getting her number.

“Of course,” she smiles, and she really needs to stop doing that because I fall that little bit further for her every time I see it, “pop your number in.”

She hands me her phone and my fingers are clumsy as I type in the number as carefully as I can. When I hand it back it’s only a matter of seconds before my own device pings with the familiar whatsapp tone and I see her message that goes along with the picture - ‘pure art! X’

“Thanks,” I chuckle as I blush at the kiss on the end of the message. I feel like a teenager again and I haven’t felt like this in such a long time; I don’t want this encounter to end. The butterflies she’s set free in my stomach are fluttering around and giving me a warm feeling inside like I’ve never felt before.

“Just popping to the ladies room,” she says as she places her bag on the chair along with her coat, “be back in a minute.”

She places her hand on my shoulder as she passes me and I can imagine she’d do this when I sit in our living room on the sofa and she gets up to go and make us both a cup of tea. A small gesture that shows she wants to be near me even though she’s only going to be gone a matter of minutes. I must be reading too much into this, my mind is whirring with imaginary scenarios and I scoff to myself as I rub my eyes and try to erase all the ridiculous thoughts.

“Are you okay Gwilym?” she asks as she takes a seat without me noticing, and she gently places a hand on my knee as she leans forward in concern. I remove my hands from my face to see her; blurry at first, but then she comes into view once more and my heart leaps.

“I’m fine,” I smile, “absolutely fine.”

“Am I keeping you from-”

“No, no, not at all,” I interrupt a little too enthusiastically, “I was just taking a moment.”

“A moment to…?” she asks inquisitively as she leans back in her chair and I desperately want to stop her hand from leaving me but that would be way too weird.

“A moment to try and figure out why I’ve been so lucky today,” I reply honestly and I notice one of her eyebrows raises slowly in interest.

“What’s your favourite Queen song?” she asks, changing the subject completely. I want to shower her with compliments but she seems averse to them for some reason, and I wonder if she’s not used to hearing them, although I’m completely baffled by the thought.

“Somebody to love,” I reply without missing a beat, “and yours?”

“You’ve been asked this question before, haven’t you?” she giggles, and she has no idea just how many times it’s happened, “either that or ‘39.”

“Have you seen-”

“Bohemian Rhapsody?” she finishes with a grimace, “would it be awful if I said no? I just haven’t got around to it yet. I know, it’s been out for weeks, I’m a bit slow when it comes to these things.”

“Hey, I’m not judging,” I grin as I hold my hands up, “this is a judgement free zone.”

“Oh thank goodness,” she sighs, “good to know, because I usually say something stupid eventually.”

“Can’t wait to hear it,” I wink. She giggles and looks out of the window with a lingering smile, and I get the overwhelming urge to invite her to dinner at mine. There’s enough in the cupboards and fridge to put together a spaghetti bolognese, but then again I’m this stranger that she only met a few hours ago who is inviting her to his house. If she did end up agreeing then I may never want to let her go and it would make the end of the day that much harder.

“How about I say something stupid first?” I blurt out before thinking about what I’m doing. She turns to me with intrigue etched across her perfect features and I smile.

“Go on then,” she encourages with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“Would you like to have dinner at mine tonight?” I ask boldly… Stupidly… Foolishly. Her mouth opens to speak then closes again as she thinks the offer over carefully.

“I’d like that a lot. Do you live nearby?” she replies and I let go of a breath I only just realise I’ve been holding.

“Just over the river, about a 25 minute cab journey. Do you live in London?” I purposely avoid reacting to her answer as I know there’s no chance I’d be able to hide my excitement.

“Just outside actually, usually takes around half an hour on the train from Liverpool Street. What will we be eating then?”

“I do a mean spaghetti bolognese if that takes your fancy?” I suggest, and her eyes open wider than before.

“My favourite!”

“No way,” I laugh.

“Honestly, my absolute favourite. It’s like you know me already,” she chuckles, then her face suddenly turns serious, “is it weird that I said I’d go to a stranger’s house for dinner?”

“Not as weird as the stranger asking you over for dinner...”

“Right. Good point!”

The evening is setting in as we make our way down the stairs this time, it was (Y/N)’s idea and I couldn’t agree fast enough after that all to quick lift we took to get up there earlier. Her fingers graze over the bannisters on our way down and sometimes she gets into a skip down one set of stairs, waiting for me to join her at the bottom with a smile. She does this on the last set and when I step off of the last stair to meet her we both stand completely still as we look into each other’s eyes like we’re the only people in the building. I take her hand and lead her outside where we quickly find a cab and jump in the back.

“Thank you,” I smile as I pay the driver, even though (Y/N) was a little miffed at not allowing me to take her half of the fare. I look up to see her standing by the small gate in front of the house waiting for me and for a fleeting moment I wonder why she hasn’t opened the front door yet before I remember that I’ve only just met her today. I walk towards her to open the gate and gesture for her to walk through first then I usher her through the front door before me and she stands perfectly still in the hallway while I rush around turning lights on.

“Make yourself at home,” I smile and she takes off her bag, coat, and hoodie nervously before hanging them up on a spare hook and slipping her boots off to walk into the front room, “drink?”

“Yes please, what have you got?” she asks as she looks around the lounge.

“Wine, beer, water, squash, tea, coffee… Anything you like really,” I smile while my eyes watch her carefully as she notices a discarded script, then a picture on the wall of me with a fellow actor she definitely recognises judging by her change in expression.

“Can I have a wine and a water please?” she asks as she spins back to face me with a sudden hint of realisation.

“Of course you can.”

“Gwilym…” she trails off with a questioning tone.

“Yes?”

“Got any garlic bread to go with the pasta?”

“Shit. I don’t think I have!”

“Not to worry,” she grins, “mind if I follow you to the kitchen?”

“I did mean it when I said to make yourself at home,” I chuckle.

She follows me down the hall into the kitchen then opens up the bread bin to find a packet of wraps and pulls them out before going over to the fridge and finding the butter. I make the drinks then watch her fumble around in a couple of cupboards until she makes a happy noise when she finds what she’s looking for.

“Sorry,” she apologises, “want some buttery garlic wraps instead then?”

“Sounds perfect,” I beam as I hand her the wine and put the glass of water down on the counter next to her. She stays by the sink as I make the bolognese and I get a little nervous under her gaze; my hands becoming clumsy as I drop some of the spaghetti onto the hob instead of into the boiling water. As soon as the spaghetti’s in, she’s mixing butter and the garlic granules she found in a bowl then spreading it over the wraps and it doesn’t take her long to figure the oven out as I step aside for the tray to be put inside.

“You did say to make myself at home,” she blushes as she stands up again to see me smiling at her.

“I did, and I’m very happy to see that you are.”

I dish up the dinner into pasta bowls, presenting it as neatly as possible while (Y/N) gets the wraps out of the oven and the smells are incredible for our dinner that we’ve made together in my house. This is how every day should be and when we sit down at the table it feels way too natural as we reach towards each other and clink our wine glasses together. Dinner is eaten in a comfortable silence and the food seems to taste better with her on the opposite side of the table; I’m completely smitten, and I want this evening to last forever.

“So, (Y/N), what do you do?” I ask, breaking the silence as we’re both nearing the end of our meal.

“I’m in the retail business,” she smiles after taking a sip of wine, “pattern making, sewing, all that jazz. And what do you do to occupy your time?”

“Interesting! I’m in the film and television business,” I reply, keeping it as vague as I can.

“That explains a lot,” she chuckles, “what’s your role then?”

“I, er… mostly I’m just an extra, I blend into the background.”

“Surely it’s impossible for someone like you to blend into the background? A tall, handsome man like yourself should be the star,” she comments and hides her mouth behind her wine glass as a blush creeps up her cheeks.

“I could say the same about you. Someone with such beauty shouldn’t be hiding behind a sewing machine, you should be out there wearing your creations.”

“Ah, touché,” she laughs, “well maybe that explains this overwhelming feeling that I know you, then.”

“Oh really? Well that’s strange because I happen to have the exact same feeling about you,” I grin, and we’re locked on to one another, our stares unwavering as we seem to be unable to look away from the other.


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of her phone ringing from the hallway finally jolts us out of our moment and she apologises quickly before rushing to her bag. I hear her talking to someone who is obviously concerned as to her whereabouts and she reassures them repeatedly that she is safe and will be home later. My heart sinks at those words even though I know this must all come to an end, and she returns just in time to lift my spirits once more.

“Sorry about that,” she smiles as she slides back into her seat, “the struggles of being 28 and still living at home; always someone checking up on you!”

“A common occurrence these days. Nice to have someone making sure you’re okay and not in a strange man’s house having dinner though...” I wink and she laughs a hearty laugh that puts a smile on my face straight away.

“Somehow I managed to leave that bit out actually,” she giggles as her laugh trails off, “do you, er, do you live with anyone?”

Is this a roundabout way of asking if I have a partner? I smile at her question, I can’t help it. I look down at my now finished plate of food as she takes her last bite, then I tilt my head back up again to face her.

“Just me,” I reply, “I take it you’re close with your parents then?”

“Yes,” she smiles, “very much so. Are you a family man?”

“Absolutely. See that beautiful drawing on my fridge? One of my nephews made it for me.”

She rises from her seat to take a closer look and grins as she turns back to me.

“We’ll be seeing his work in the Tate one day,” she nods, “it’s fantastic.”

“Looks like he takes after his uncle then,” I smirk as I pick up the empty plates from the table and take them over to the sink.

“Modest,” she says as she raises her eyebrows and collects the glasses from the table then joins me, “you wash, I’ll dry.”

“I’d never allow a guest to help me wash up,” I gasp, “I insist you go and sit down in the living room with a topped up glass of wine and put your feet up.”

“Well I’m afraid you have no choice in the matter,” she smiles as she grabs the tea towel from behind me, leaning in so close her perfume fills my nostrils. All I can do is grin back at her as her scent overwhelms me and causes my mind to go completely blank. Somehow I manage to fill the washing up bowl and start cleaning the crockery, then she leans against the counter as she takes each plate and wipes it with care before gently placing them in a pile.

“So what have you been in that I might have seen on the telly then?” she suddenly asks as she tilts her head with interest at me.

It’s refreshing to hear someone ask that rather than reeling off things I’ve been in, and I quite like being an unknown person to her. She gives me a reassuring smile and suddenly I want to tell her my whole life story, not just what I’ve acted in. Her face is so kind, so genuine, so full of intrigue as she awaits my answer, ready to scan her memory to see if she’s seen me on the screen without realising it.

“You don’t have to tell me,” she chuckles softly after my long pause.

“Oh, no, it’s not that,” I grin, “I just forgot what I was going to say. Your eyes are… distracting to say the least.”

She looks away from me obviously embarrassed by what I said, and all I want to do is kiss her, so I make my move. I lift my hands out of the washing up bowl, flick the excess water off of them, then gently place my hands on the tea towel she still holds, so they’re covering her hands without getting them wet. Her gaze lifts from the floor to my face, hovering at my lips for a moment before she meets my eyes, and she holds her breath as I lean in slowly. She meets me half way then our lips connect in a tentative kiss and a fire is ignited in my soul as our mouths move together; the softness of her plump lips like a comforting blanket after a long day, and I want to feel this every single day for the rest of my life.

“Oh,” she giggles once we part, and her laughter is like music to my ears, “is that the length you’ll go to, to avoid a question?” she jokes, and I smile but I can tell that there’s a self deprecating humour there that acts as a defence, which saddens me.

“I’d never avoid a question from you,” I say, “but I would go to some extreme lengths for another kiss from you.”

There I go again, laying it on thick and being about as subtle as a frying pan to the face. I just can’t help myself with her though, she’s doing something to me that I’ve never experienced before, and I’m loving every second of it. I crave more and it concerns me that I know this night has to end eventually.

“Good to know,” she says shyly, “now tell me your entire IMDB history.”

We laugh as she takes my hand and leads me into the lounge as if she already lives here, and it’s so natural, so easy, I’m in heaven in my own house. How has this happened?

“It’s not very interesting really...” I say, trying to play it cool.

“You’ve been on Midsomer Murders I see,” she smiles as she points to a photo with me and Neil in it, “how long did you last, and have you got the footage of your death?”

Our bodies fall onto the couch at the same time and she curls her legs up on the cushion so she can face me, her arm propping her head up as her elbow rests on the back of the sofa. I can’t remember if I switched the light on in this room or if it’s just her smile illuminating it. I let out a small laugh before I turn my body to hers and bring one leg up onto the couch, making sure it rests against hers so I can feel her warmth.

“I survived, actually,” I smile, “I played a policeman.”

“No way! That’s amazing!” she gasps, “how long were you in it?”

“I was in three series.”

“Three?! Oh my god, now I feel bad for not recognising you,” she chuckles, “and Gwilym isn’t exactly a name you’d forget.”

“Don’t worry,” I grin, “ever heard of a show called Jamestown?”

“You’re going to have to stop listing shows because I’m feeling awful about seeing these things and- wait a minute… Samuel Castell?!” she asks as true shock crosses her face and her hands cup over her mouth.

“Yes,” I laugh, “that’s me! Well, was me...”

“Oh, poor, dear Samuel,” she sighs as she brings her hands down and places them on mine, “he was such a sweet soul. I guess it didn’t take much acting for you to be the perfect gentleman?”

“You think I’m a perfect gentleman?” I question, and her cheeks redden.

“You definitely could have taken something else from what I just said,” she laughs nervously as she slips her hands away from mine. I clumsily reach for her again which ends up looking so strange as my fingers almost miss her and practically grab at hers in desperation for contact, but she smiles at me and I know that everything will be okay as our hands find each other once more.

“Shit!” she suddenly gasps as she gets a look at the time on my watch, “fuck! I’ve missed the last train.”

My mouth opens to say something reassuring and I’m fighting against the fact that all my lips want to do is turn up into a smile at this news. She looks panicked, flustered, and she’s let go of me again as she runs a hand through her hair frustratedly while the other taps anxiously on her knee.

“I’m so sorry for swearing,” she says, “I’m just… I should’ve kept an eye on the time. How did it get so late?”

“Don’t be sorry,” I smile, shaking my head slowly, “time flies when you’re having fun, right? Sorry, not helpful.”

“It’s true,” she half laughs, “oh god, do you know of any places around here to st-”

“Here,” I interrupt, “stay here. I think my spare room is clean enough… Might have to quickly go and check though.”

“Are you sure?” she asks with a frown, “please don’t feel like you need to do this.”

“I know I don’t need to. I _want_ to. You can figure out my kitchen, right?” she nods as I get up slowly from the sofa, “how about you make us a cup of tea while I make sure the spare room is presentable and find you something to sleep in, yeah? I take mine with milk, one sugar.”

“I think I can manage that,” she smiles and I hover by the sofa as I watch her get up and walk into the kitchen.

Once I’m up the stairs I take a moment to fist pump the air and clap my hands together as I look up at the ceiling to thank the universe for making this possible.

“Thank you thank you thank you,” I whisper to the loft hatch.

I look like a fool, but I’m climbing the dizzy heights of love. Love? It must be. To feel this strongly about someone must be love. I rush around the guest bedroom putting away clothes, paperwork, and boxes of stuff I didn’t even know I had to be honest, then shake off the duvet and plump up the pillows to make the bed look inviting. When I get to my room I stand in the doorway panicking a little as I wonder whether I have a clean pair of pyjamas somewhere, and thankfully when I open up a drawer there’s a grey t-shirt and shorts combo just waiting to be worn by her. I pick them up carefully and take them downstairs with me where I find her rinsing the tea spoon after having just finished making the tea.

“Found these,” I smile, causing her to turn around.

“Thank you,” she sighs, “I’m so sorry again, I should have kept an eye on the time, it’s completely my fault.”

“Don’t worry,” I chuckle, “honestly, it’s fine. Have you told your parents you’re safe?”

“Yes,” she laughs, “I definitely wasn’t believed when I said I was staying with an old friend from uni, but sometimes a white lie is necessary. I’m safe here, anyway, so it’s fine.”

She is safe here, she is _so_ safe here, and it fills my heart with joy to hear her say it. She takes the pyjamas from my hands and her fingers brush against mine lightly as they hold onto the clothes, then she balances them on one hand as she points to one of the mugs of tea.

“That one’s yours,” she smiles.

“Out of curiosity, how do you take your tea?” I ask, already planning to get up before her and bring her a cup for when she wakes.

“Milk, no sugar.”

“Sweet enough?”

“Something like that,” she giggles.

“Right, well follow me and I’ll show you to your room,” I say as I pick up my tea and she does the same.

‘Your room’ sounds nice coming from my mouth, but _our_ room would sound so much better. She’s close behind me as we climb the stairs then I turn left at the top and hold my arm out when we get to the spare room for her to enter before me.

“Hope this is okay. Bathroom is opposite you, and I’m just the other side of stairs if you need anything. Telly works fine so feel free to use it if you can’t sleep… Umm, do you want me to leave the hall light on? And do you want some water?”

“Gwilym,” she grins, “calm down. I won’t leave you a bad rating on trip advisor, I promise,” she winks.

“Sorry,” I frown as I shake my head in embarrassment, “I’ll let you get to bed then.”

“Thank you. For everything,” she smiles, then leans up and places the sweetest, softest kiss to my cheek, “I’ll see you in the morning. Or during the night if I get lost,” she giggles.

I laugh with her but I don’t want to leave her, I want to keep my eyes on her as long as possible if she’s not leaving my house, I want to make the most of every second and learn every single inch of her skin so that I can never forget her face. She shuts her door slowly and I sigh a little too loudly, then walk to my own bedroom with the cup of tea she lovingly made for me; the only warmth I’ll feel tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

I wake several times during the night which is unlike me, but even in my unconscious state I know she’s only down the hall, and all of my fragmented dreams consist of her being in my house and us together in some form. It’s torture, especially when I hear her get up and go to the bathroom in the early hours of the morning and I have to fight every urge in my body that screams at me to get up as well just so I don’t have to wait any longer until I see her face. (Y/N)’s done something to me that I can’t explain and as I lay wide awake in my bed imagining her peaceful face sleeping as she huddles under the covers in my clothes, my heart begins to ache for the sight.

As soon as the sunlight starts to filter through my curtains I jump out of bed, not wanting to waste a single second of being able to see her, and I rush down the stairs as quietly as I can to fuss around until I hear her stirring. To my utter shock though, she somehow got down here before me and there she is in all her sleepy glory as she bends over the kitchen counter waiting for the kettle to boil with her elbows propping her head up. Her pose has the shorts I gave her riding high on her thigh and I spot a calf tattoo and one on either thigh as well, and I want to get on my knees to trace every single line of the design.

“Morning,” I whisper, not wanting to startle her.

“Oh, bloody hell,” she gasps as she stands upright in shock and clutches her hands to her chest, “scared the shit out of me then!”

“Sorry!” I laugh, “what are you doing up so early? Do you need to head off?”

My hands are behind my back as I cross all possible fingers as I await her answer and hope that she says she can stay here forever; or at least just today anyway.

“No, no, I just woke up unnaturally early and couldn’t get back to sleep,” she smiles as she starts to pour the water into two cups, “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Not at all,” I grin, and uncross my fingers, “I also had the same problem.”

“Probably because you’ve got some strange woman staying in your house,” she smirks as she stirs my cup then hands me the drink.

“Yeah, I was worrying constantly about her sneaking down here to make me another beautiful cup of tea,” I wink, “what are your plans for today?”

“Oh, I’ll be out of your hair soon, don’t worry,” she smiles, taking my question the completely wrong way.

“No! I didn’t mean it that way. I was wondering if you wanted to hang around for a bit...”

“Umm… I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I might never want to leave,” she admits as she looks down at her tea, and that’s it, my life is over because I’m in love with this woman and I never want her to leave my sight. We think the same, we’d say the same if I were a little braver, and is it too soon to think about how many guests we’d have at our wedding?

“That’s more than okay. You’d have absolutely no complaints from me if you wanted to stay indefinitely,” I say seriously, and she looks up to see how sincere I’m being.

“You really mean that, huh?” she asks as she studies my face carefully, and I nod in response so I don’t make a complete fool out of myself.

“What would you like for breakfast?” I ask before I say something that’ll make her run for the front door.

“Whatever you’ve got I’ll be happy with.”

“Go and make yourself comfy in the lounge then,” I smile, and she takes a sip of tea before her feet softly pad across the floor and out of the room.

I go about making pancakes and frying up some bacon to go along with them; surely an American style breakfast would go down well with her. I hope so, anyway. I pour orange juice into two glasses and put them on a tray along with the breakfast ingredients and two empty plates to fill, then walk into the living room and almost drop the damn thing on the ground at the sight that welcomes me. There she is with her feet up on the couch, which are now covered by a pair of my socks, her knees bent to show me all of her tattoos on the leg that faces me, and her hands wrapped around the mug as she brings it up to her lips.

“Breakfast!” I manage to grin as I set the tray down with my shaking hands.

Her face lights up as she swings her legs off of the sofa, then proceeds to put two pancakes onto her plate and neatly places three pieces of bacon on top before squirting some syrup over the stack, and giving me a guilty look.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologises, “I’m such a pig!”

“You most definitely are not!” I frown, “don’t be sorry about enjoying food. I’m always first to dig in at the dinner table anyway.”

She smiles then in relief she leans her forehead on my shoulder for a couple of seconds before turning her attention back to her plate which now sits on her lap, and picking up a knife and fork to begin eating. I fill my plate as well but find it difficult to concentrate on what I’m doing while I’m sitting next to her. I can see her thigh out of the corner of my eye; the ink just peeking out from the hem of my shorts, and I need to see more.

“How many tattoos have you got?” I ask casually after she’s finished her breakfast; mostly because I’m hoping she’ll show me every single one.

“A few,” she smiles as she places her plate on the coffee table, “wanna see?”

It’s a completely innocent question, she must be used to showing people who are curious, or after she’s had them done; this is nothing special… Except the way that I’m eyeing her skin as she reveals the first one is definitely not in an innocent way, and she knows it. The first wraps all the way around her thigh and I can’t quite believe how good my shorts look when they’re rolled up on (Y/N)’s body as she shows me her art. At one point she pulls the neck of the t-shirt down to show me one on her chest and her skin looks so soft there, my fingers are practically twitching to feel it.

“So, yeah, that’s all of them,” she says eventually, rolling the shorts back down.

“Incredible,” I smile, “beautiful.”

“Yeah, the artists were-”

“I meant you. All of you.”

“Right, well being as you made breakfast it’s only fair that I wash up!” she announces as a light blush appears on her cheeks.

She quickly gathers everything onto the tray then picks it up and scurries out to the kitchen, and I fear I’ve said too much. I rub my eyes with a mumbled ‘fuck’ under my breath then go to find her rinsing the plates in the sink.

“Leave that,” I say quietly, “why don’t we go out for a coffee or something?”

“My treat,” she says as she spins around to face me, “you’ve let me invade your house for the night.”

“Is there any point in me arguing?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Well we’d better get dressed then,” I grin, and allow her to lead the way up the stairs.

I dress quickly from sheer excitement at walking out in public with her and I pace in the hallway for a few minutes before she comes down in her striped dress, minus the tights this time. Her hair falls in natural waves after being brushed out a little and not having anything to straighten it with, and she runs her fingers through it as if conscious of this fact but I think it looks gorgeous. Of course I would, though. She unhooks her duster coat from the hallway wall, then we leave together, just like a couple, then I boldly brush my hand against hers when we’re side by side, and almost jump for joy when she slips her fingers between mine.

The cafe I’ve chosen is quiet, it always is on a Sunday morning, and she insists I sit down while she goes up to get the drinks to make sure I don’t cut in and pay for them. I stare at her in awe as she stands behind the one other person ordering and she turns to give me a smile, completely catching me out but also letting on that she was seeing what I was doing as well. She arrives at the table soon after with the drinks and a chocolate chip muffin.

“I know we just had breakfast, but half each isn’t so bad, right? It was calling out to me from behind that glass,” she says, a little embarrassed.

Can she stop doing that? That thing where she’s absolutely perfect? The bright sunshine outside turns to rain clouds as we talk for hours, taking it in turns to go up and get the next couple of drinks when we can find a moment to tear ourselves away from one another. The darkened sky makes it seem a lot later than it is, but then to be fair it’s getting well on into the afternoon by the time we realise we should head back. We both walk as slowly as each other as we stroll along the damp street back to mine, and the atmosphere is heavy around us, not just because of the rain, but because we know this has to end sooner rather than later.

“I’d better get my things together,” she says sadly, not bothering to hide the fact that she doesn’t want to leave.

Before I can reply she’s making her way up the stairs and I’m rooted to the spot at the bottom of the staircase, watching helplessly as this incredible woman packs up her few belongings to leave. I’m still in the same spot when she starts to descend the stairs with her bag in hand, and she stops on the bottom step, now eye to eye with me. We stare at each other for a while, neither one of us knowing what to say, then she places a hand on my cheek and I’m quick to lean into her soft touch.

“Just know that I don’t want to go,” she says quietly as her thumb sweeps underneath my eye gently.

“Do you have to?” I ask in desperation.

“Yes,” she half laughs, “unfortunately I do.”

“Let me drive you to Liverpool Street.”

“It’ll be easier if I get the tube.”

“It won’t,” I frown, “please.”

She nods slowly then in silence we walk outside and get into the car for the longest drive of my life. Neither of us can talk on the way to the station, and when I eventually pull up down one of the nearest streets, we don’t even bother undoing our seatbelts for a couple of minutes. She reluctantly gets out of the car and I’m quick to follow as I turn the engine off and yank my keys out of the ignition.

“(Y/N),” I say, making her turn to face me as I come up at her side, “let me know when you get home safely.”

“I will,” she smiles.

I pull her against me as I wrap my arms around her upper body tightly and her hands slide around my back and grip onto my jacket. We stay like this for a while, until the rain starts up again and starts to cover us. We lean away from one another and I can’t help pressing my lips to hers again, the faint hint of coffee still on her lips from the cafe.

“Bye Gwilym,” she sighs as the kiss ends and her eyes flutter open.

“See you soon.”

“See you soon,” she nods, then there she goes into the crowd of people that are so busy as they rush around going in and out of the station. I keep my eyes on her for as long as possible but she eventually disappears and I have to fight every urge in my body that tells me to run after her. I get back into the car, brush my fingers through my damp hair, then drive back home in a sombre silence.

Walking through my front door is torture because she’s everywhere; the dishes she rinsed sit neatly in the sink, the pyjamas she borrowed are folded perfectly on the corner of spare bed, the faint whiff of her perfume lingers in the air, and the sofa cushions are positioned against the arm exactly where she left them.


	5. Chapter 5

Two weeks, 14 whole days without seeing her, and I was starting to crumble. We’d been in contact the whole time, in fact not a day went by without a message or a phone call, but it wasn’t the same as seeing her and I still hadn’t moved those pyjamas she wore from the corner of the spare bed, just in case she came back.

_-It’s on! I can do this weekend x_

The text came through just at the right time, calming my racing mind as I wonder whether I could casually ask her address and turn up uninvited.

_-Perfect! What time? Where would you like to meet? Xx_

That doesn’t sound too desperate does it? Too late, it’s sent. Were two questions a little much?

_-Well, I happen to be free **all** weekend, so it’s up to you. Whenever you can fit me in to your busy schedule x_

She highlighted the word ‘all’… Does she want to stay again? Oh, please say she wants to stay again. And as for my busy schedule, it had quietened down a bit since my last job, so I was mostly free apart from a short tour of Australia coming up.

_-Then may I be so bold as to suggest another stay at Hotel Lee? Breakfast in bed could be arranged this time, I’m sure xx_

_-Sounds perfect. Would the breakfast in bed be for you or me though? ;) xx_

This woman!

_-Us xx_

_-I like that word xx_

Our messages had soon diverted into talk such as this, nothing crude or suggestive in any way of course, only sweet thoughts about being together or using terminology that suggested a partnership. It had certainly brightened my days, and I’m sure it had the same effect for her. She was a little reserved still, but when she opened up to me I knew it meant that there was a connection deeper than anything else either her or I had felt before, and it meant so much more.

All I wanted to do was skip the damn first dates and go straight to waking up next to her, peppering her body in kisses, holding her close enough to feel her heart beat, and talking about nothing in particular all night until the first light of dawn. I don’t know whether it was my age or not but I want to settle down and I know she is the one I want that with.

_-I like it too, but not as much as I like you xx_

_-Dammit! I regretted not putting something similar at the end of my last message when I sent it xx_

_-You snooze, you lose xx_

_-Haha! Absolute cheek. Do you want me over Saturday morning then? Xx_

I couldn’t love her any more right now, and I’m sure I wasn’t doing a great job of hiding my feelings either, but screw it, you only live once and I don’t want to waste a single second of letting her know just how much she’s loved.

_-Friday night? I can pick you up from the station xx_

_-Friday night it is. Does this mean we get two breakfasts in bed? Xx_

_-Of course! Xx_

By the time Friday comes around it’s the nineteenth day without seeing her and I’m at the station way too early but I don’t care, I just need to see her as soon as she’s here, I refuse to miss a beat. I tap my fingers on the steering wheel impatiently as I fidget in my seat, and after what seems like hours she finally appears from the escalator with a suitcase. I scramble out of my seat so fast that I forget I’m still strapped in, but as soon as that seat belt’s been discarded I’m out and waving like a damn fool. Here she comes in her slip on Vans trainers, ankle grazer jeans, leather jacket, and… Is that a Queen t-shirt? It is, it is a bloody Queen t-shirt. She looks incredible.

“Hey,” she grins as we walk towards one another.

“Oh, hello you. You’re a sight for sore eyes, I tell you,” I sigh as she lets go of her case and hugs me when I’m close enough.

“Are you okay?” she mumbles while pressed against my body.

“Oh, yes, I’m fine, I just… I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time.”

“Since I had to leave last time?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well I’m glad I’m not the only one then,” she chuckles with relief.

I reluctantly let go of her then pick up her case before she can reach for it, and we walk to my car in a blissful silence. When we’re in the car, my left hand gets a little lazy and I end up resting it on my thigh during the drive as (Y/N) flicks through radio stations, and I’m a little taken aback when her fingers link through mine, brushing my jeans as she curls them around my hand. I grin like an idiot as I tighten my fingers around hers, but then she slips her hand out soon after.

“Sorry,” she says, “sorry, you’re driving. I wasn’t thinking.”

I reach over to her hand and take it in mine, then quickly bring it up to my lips to kiss her knuckles.

“Don’t be sorry,” I say as I place her hand back on her thigh, “I love it. I’ve been wanting to feel your touch for so long.”

I’m glad I’m driving so I can’t see her face at that absurdly bold sentence that flew past my lips before I could stop it.

“The feeling’s mutual,” she replies quietly.

I take a quick glance over at her and spot the shy smile caressing her lips softly, and my heart skips a beat at the sight. When we finally get to mine I carry her case once again, even though she tries to playfully take it from me, and we fall through the door laughing. This is how it should be, this is how our lives _should_ be, this is what I want and I want it with her.

“Nice top,” I smirk as she shrugs off her jacket and hangs it up where her duster coat once rested.

“Oh!” she giggles, “thank you.”

“Seen the film yet?”

“No! I’ll get around to it one day, I’ve promised I’ll watch it with my mum; she loves Freddie.”

“Ah! Then she’ll love the film… Hopefully,” I chuckle, enjoying the fact she still doesn’t know my role, “right, so what do you want for dinner?”

“Would it be okay to decide after I’ve changed into my pyjamas? I’m just… It’s been a busy day at work and I’m so tired,” she says with a small yawn.

“Of course! Go on up, I’ll bring your case.”

When she gets to the top of the stairs I wonder if she’s going to go right instead of left, but she turns towards the spare room and my heart sinks a little, even though it shouldn’t. I ache to lay next to her, watch as she drifts off to sleep, feel her heart rate slow as she dreams, listen to her soft breathing as she stirs during the night and eventually turns to rest her head on my chest. I ache to do other things too, but there’s no rush for that because this is different, this is something more.

“Sorry, this isn’t rude is it?” she asks as she walk into the bedroom, “I mean, going to another person’s house who you’ve only met once before, and asking if you can get into your pyjamas straight away? It’s a little rude isn’t it?”

“No!” I laugh, “not at all. Would you mind if I got mine on as well?”

“Of course not! It’s your house!” she grins, taking her case from my hand, “meet you in the hallway in five, yeah?”

“You’ve got it,” I wink.

I hear the door close behind me as I walk towards my room and I worry about whether to put a top on with my joggers, as I usually don’t bother when I’m alone, but would she find it a bit much? Maybe she’ll think I’m expecting something I’m definitely not, I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable… Why is this so difficult? Shit, I can hear her on the creaky floorboard on the landing, fuck it, just joggers it is then.

“And here we have Miss. (Y/L/N) looking absolutely stunning in a slogan nightdress that reads ‘I’d rather be in bed’, and Mr. Lee in a minimalist outfit of plain black jogging bottoms,” I say, trying to distract her, or maybe myself, from the fact I’m half naked.

Fuck, I sound like an idiot, and the silence coming from her is killing me.

“Mr. Lee escorts Miss. (Y/L/N) down the red carpet to rapturous applause at such brave outfit choices for a premiere,” she finally says, linking her arm through mine as we take the stairs together side by side.

I jump down the last step before her after I unlink our arms, then turn to face her before she can step down and she shoots me confused smile as she comes to an abrupt stop. I’m not entirely sure why I’ve done this, I just need to see her, look into her eyes for a moment, and that’s when it happens; one of her hands lands softly on my shoulder and runs up to my neck where her fingers snake around to my hair, then the other rests on my chest as she leans forward. I nudge my nose against hers as I meet her in the middle and we smile before our lips meet.

There may as well be fireworks going off around us with the way I’m feeling as my hands glide around her waist and meet at the base of her back. Her touch is tentative and a little reserved on my bare skin, but she leaves a trail of fire as her fingers move across my chest and the sensation makes me light headed. I lift her off of the stair then place her slowly on the ground and we part with a giggle.

“That was nice,” she grins shyly, her lips plump and crimson.

“It was,” I exhale.

This was it, there was no going back to a life without this woman in it now.


	6. Chapter 6

Food is the last thing on our minds as we tangle ourselves together on the sofa while I flick through the film channels to find some background noise for our evening. I never quite knew why I chose such a deep sofa but now I have (Y/N) laying in front of me with her legs intertwined with mine it suddenly all makes sense. There is plenty of room in front of her as we lie on our sides, but she chooses to press her back against my body, and I’m more than happy with her decision.

“How about this one?” I ask as I land on some superhero flick that I’m definitely not going to be watching.

“Yeah,” she replies quietly, as if already falling asleep.

I drop the remote behind my legs then drape my arm over her body slowly and she links her fingers through mine and brings my hand down to a stop by her face. This was more than I could have expected from this meeting and it was only the first few hours.

“Was acting something you always wanted to do?” she asks after a silent few minutes.

“Apart from being a professional skateboarder, yeah pretty much,” I chuckle.

“No way!” she gasps, “you’ll have to show me some moves. I was never very good at it.”

“I’m a little… old for it now I think.”

“Never too old for anything,” she sighs, tugging my arm around her tighter, “what was the name of the last film you did?”

I’m not going to lie, I’m very glad I don’t have to say Bohemian Rhapsody. I’m not sure why, but I like being this person to her, this television actor who has only dabbled in independent films and not someone who now gets recognised on the street whenever I go somewhere. It’s nice, it’s cosy, it’s us.

“Top End Wedding.”

“Ooh, a wedding! I see you being...” she shuffles around, lets go of my hand and turns to face me with an inquisitive look, “the groom, right? The absolute definition of the perfect husband?”

“How did you know?” I laugh.

“Just a guess,” she grins, then rests her forehead against my chest with a deep breath.

“Do you want something to eat?” I ask, secretly not wanting to move from this heavenly position.

She looks up at me with a glint in her eye and a sly smile across her lips, and I know what she’s thinking because I’m thinking the same damn thing. It soon fades though, to give way to a more serious expression as she ponders the question, and hopefully also wonders whether we can just stay here and not move.

“I don’t want to move,” she admits.

“Neither do I.”

“What’s happening in the film?”

“Some bad guys are getting beat up by the good guys I imagine,” I reply, not taking my eyes off of hers for one second as I answer.

“You’re not even looking,” she grins.

“Neither are you.”

“Why would I do a silly thing like that?”

All I can do is grin down at her, knowing that she was slowly but surely opening herself up to me and letting me through any defences she’d created. She gets embarrassed and looks down at where our bodies meet, then turns her head to the side so she can rest it against my chest. In complete silence we’ve decided to forgo dinner and stay exactly where we are instead, and I couldn’t be happier with our brilliant resolution. I soon get my wish to watch her as she sleeps when she drifts off pressed up to my body and I will my eyes to stay open when they begin to close for longer periods of time, but eventually I succumb to the tiredness as the television carries on talking nonsense in the background.

I’m first to wake and see the result of a night of shifting around in such a small space, and I’m both ecstatic and terrified to find I’ve rolled onto my back and she’s got and arm draped across my chest while her head is on my shoulder, a matter of centimetres from my neck. I can feel every breath from her lips on my skin and it causes the hairs on my arms to stand on end as I lay there willing myself not to make any sudden movements and wake her. Unfortunately it’s not me that causes the peaceful moment to be broken; it’s the phone in my pocket that rings with a piercing sound and cuts the silence with a sharp knife. I shuffle my hand down into my pyjama pocket as (Y/N) begins to stir, and by the time I’ve cancelled the call she’s wide awake.

“Sleeping together and you haven’t even taken me out on a date yet,” she mumbles with a sleepy smile as she lifts her head and leans her hand on my chest.

“We’re rule breakers,” I grin.

My phone rings again just as she opens her mouth to speak and I curse whoever it is on the other end, but she smiles, tells me she’s going to freshen up, then presses her lips to my cheek before getting up and making her way upstairs. Looking down at my phone I see it’s Ben, and quickly answer before he rings off.

“Hey mate,” I say a little too enthusiastically.

“Oh, so that’s why you rejected my earlier call,” he replies.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve got her there finally, haven’t you?”

“Nineteen days, Ben, it was nineteen days.”

“Well make sure it doesn’t get that long between seeing her again,” he chuckles, “I was going to ask if you wanted to grab a coffee or something, but if you’re _busy_...”

“Don’t say it like that,” I laugh, “you know it’s not like that. Are you around in the week at all instead?”

“I’ve got a couple of things actually, but don’t worry, we’ll do something another time, yeah?”

“Definitely another time. I’m sorry mate, I-”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s been nineteen days, you’re obviously in a state of shock at seeing her again,” he says, taking the piss in a playful way.

“Pretty much. Love you man.”

“Love you too you big softie. Speak soon.”

I hang the phone up just as (Y/N) makes an appearance in the doorway, her nightdress still on but a more awake look on her face as she tilts her head questioningly at me.

“I do hope you weren’t ditching any friends because I’m here,” she frowns as she steps inside the lounge and perches next to me on the sofa.

“This is my weekend with you,” I say weakly.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t go to the pub to see people though, does it?”

“Well, it’s only one person actually...”

“Perfect! Less anxiety for me, then,” she winks.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“It’s one friend, I think I can handle it. What’s his or her name?”

“His name’s Ben,” I smile, idly running my hand up and down her thigh as I continue to lay on the sofa.

“Then I think maybe you should ring Ben back, and I’ll make us some breakfast.”

I open my mouth to protest at her doing breakfast but she shakes her head and disappears quickly into the kitchen whilst I’m left stunned on the sofa, wondering whether because this seemed too good to be true, something was about to go drastically wrong. The selfish part of me wants to keep her all to myself for as long as possible, but then the rational part of me is positively jumping for joy at the fact that she wants to meet one of my friends. Surely this must mean she’s in it for the long haul? I calm myself enough to ring back Ben and arrange to meet at the pub around the corner for lunch.

“How does one o’clock at the local pub sound?” I ask as I enter the kitchen just as scrambled egg on toast is being served up.

How did she know this was my usual weekend breakfast?

“Sounds perfect,” she smiles.

We sit down to eat our meal in silence and we both steal glances at one another when we think the other person isn’t looking which makes the butterflies in my stomach do somersaults as I force myself to eat through the nerves. I offer her the use of the bathroom first, then when I walk in it’s filled with new smells that this house has never had the pleasure of experiencing, and it’s intoxicating as I breathe in deeply while I shower. It’s tempting to touch myself but I resist; I don’t want it to be my hand, I want it to be hers, and I’m willing to wait however long it takes for that to happen. We chat again when we reconvene in the lounge after we’re both dressed and ready to go, and new pieces of information about her are being stored in my head for future use, then I share snippets of my life with her and I can see her doing the same as she takes it all in.

“Oh!” she gasps as she glances behind me at the clock, “we’d better go!”

“There’s still time to back out if this is too much too soon,” I say as we push our arms through our jackets in the hallway.

“Never. Bring it on,” she grins.

We walk hand in hand to the pub as I try to keep as low a profile as possible through the busy Saturday streets, and when we arrive Ben is already sat in a corner with drinks scattered around the table for us. I begrudgingly let go of (Y/N)’s hand as Ben stands up and we hug tightly, then I keep my arm around his shoulders as we both turn to her.

“This is (Y/N),” I smile, and Ben pulls away from me to walk around the table and give her a welcoming hug.

“Very nice to meet you, (Y/N), I’ve heard a lot about you,” Ben smiles as he _finally_ pulls away from her.

“Oh dear,” she giggles nervously, “all good I hope!”

“As if it would be anything less than great,” he winks.

We sit around the small table and (Y/N) immediately asks how Ben and I met, which makes a heat creep up my cheeks as I struggle to come up with an excuse that doesn’t involve the words ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, but Ben comes to the rescue, knowing that I didn’t want that to slip out just yet.

“Just this little film we did,” Ben grins, “there were four of us in the main roles and we all became pretty close, but it just happened that myself and Gwil lived in London while the other two reside across the pond.”

She nods along as he speaks, me getting the odd word in every now and again when she asks about the experience we had instead of the details of the film itself thankfully, and when Ben leaves the table to go to the toilet she turns to me with a laugh and nudges her shoulder against my arm.

“So you just casually hang out with your best mate Peter Beale every now and again?!” she asks, “I feel like I’m dreaming!”

“Bloody hell, you should play poker!” I laugh, “I would never have guessed you recognised him!”

“Maybe I do play poker professionally, but you’d never be able to tell because my poker face is far too good,” she winks.

Head over heels. I’m ridiculously head over heels for her.


	7. Chapter 7

“You two are just… I don’t even know,” Ben laughs as he sits back in his chair with his pint in hand.

“Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?” I ask before taking a sip of mine and glancing over at the toilets to check (Y/N)’s not heading our way just yet.

“A good thing. A very good thing. It’s weird though, isn’t it? You two act as if you’ve known each other as long as we have. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’ve never really felt that way with anyone before, but it’s fascinating seeing it between the two of you.”

“Aw, Ben mate! You will. And it’ll be just as magical as this,” I grin.

“I can only hope,” he winks, “and she was listening to Queen when you met?”

“It was fucking weird, man,” I nod, “like it was meant to be.”

“This is what I mean! You two are something else completely,” Ben repeats.

I spot her coming out of the toilets, smoothing down her dress self consciously even though she looks incredible and has absolutely no need to worry, and she makes her way back to the table with a smile when she catches me staring. She stands behind her seat and slowly slides her hand across my shoulders as she leans over the table.

“Would you like another drink, Ben?” she asks as a waft of her perfume fills my nostrils.

“I’ll get these, you sit down,” Ben smiles.

“No, no, I insist,” she says, “another pint?”

“Yes please,” Ben nods.

“And what would you like?” she asks as she turns towards me while her fingers brush against the skin on the back of my neck.

“I… Er… Same as Ben please,” I reply, my mouth suddenly drier than the desert as I look up into her eyes.

“Be right back,” she grins, lifting her bag from the back of the chair and heading towards the bar.

“Er… Um… Ohh, (Y/N),” Ben teases quietly.

“Fuck off,” I laugh.

“You’re obsessed,” he winks.

“Yep, completely and utterly,” I sigh with a smile.

(Y/N) soon returns to the table with a tray of drinks and we all go silent as we sip them. A couple more hours pass until Ben has to leave, and we all walk outside together to say goodbye, Ben making sure he gives (Y/N) a longer hug than he did earlier to irk me on purpose. We say we won’t leave it as long next time and I genuinely hope we keep to that promise, as I feel we need each other more than ever now that the buzz is dying down.

“So how was that for you?” I ask as I drape my arm around (Y/N)’s shoulders as if she’s mine already.

“Better than I expected,” she admits, “I was nervous, which certainly wasn’t helped by the fact that I’d seen him on my television a hundred times! But you kept me calm.”

“How did I do that?”

“By just being there. I’m calm around you,” she shrugs before nestling into my side, “so how about we get to yours, change back into our pyjamas, and lay in bed the rest of the evening?”

“Lay in bed?” I ask, raising an eyebrow as I smirk down at her.

“Oh my god,” she gasps, “did I say that?! I meant the sofa! Oh my god.”

“It’s okay,” I chuckle as she buries her face in her hands in embarrassment, “sounds like a fantastic idea to me either way.”

She slowly reappears again to look up at me with a shy smile and I almost walk into a lamp post as I stare down at her; only her quick thinking saving me as she pulls me to the side.

“You need to look where you’re going,” she giggles.

“You need to stop distracting me with thoughts of being in bed with you,” I smile, biting my bottom lip as a shiver runs up my spine when I think of how much I’d love that to happen.

“Complete accident!” she says, holding her hands up, “not my fault!”

“But it came from your lips, so somewhere deep inside you’ve been thinking about me and you in my bed...”

“Busted,” she laughs, hiding her face away from me once again.

There was something so endearingly innocent about our exchange, as if we both knew there was no need for any innuendos yet because this wasn’t based on lust, it was love. She slide her arm around my waist underneath my jacket and it makes me smile that she wants to feel the warmth of my body as much as I want to feel hers. I want to get through the front door, sweep her up into my arms and carry her up the stairs, but I know that’s a step too far, and extremely impractical with how narrow my staircase was. Maybe a fireman’s lift instead?

“Earth to Gwilym,” (Y/N) grins as she waves a hand in front of my face.

“Sorry, miles away!” I chuckle as I get the keys out of my pocket and unlock the door, letting her in first.

“Well I’m glad you’re back with me now,” she says as she walks through the doorway and slips her shoes off, “last one under the duvet has to make the tea.”

With that, she races up the stairs with a giggle and I kick my shoes off as quickly as possible to follow her, getting to my bedroom just as she’s wriggling her jeans off from underneath her nightdress in the hallway. She throws them into the spare room as I pull off my t-shirt then she runs through and leaps onto the bed, quickly scrambling to get underneath the covers.

“Milk, no sugar,” she winks as she settles in the side of the bed that had been empty for far too long.

“Unbelievable,” I sigh, rolling my eyes as I push my jeans down.

I can feel her eyes on my body, she doesn’t even try to hide the fact that she’s looking at my bare legs, and that’s what I like. There’s no need to shy away from each other and there’s definitely no need to hide our feelings, or be coy when it comes to looking at one another. I give her a twirl before stepping into my joggers and her laugh fills the room with joy.

“Be right back,” I smile, leaning down to peck her lips.

She smiles as I pull away and I suddenly couldn’t give a shit about getting a drink; all I want to do is run my hands up and down her body under those covers and feel every breath that leaves her mouth on my bare skin. I want to know everything about her, every mole, every freckle, every scar, and then I want to press my lips against every single mark as I map it out in my mind to remember forever.

“Are you alright?” she asks as her hand strokes the stubble on my cheek.

I hadn’t realised I was still hovering over her as my mind ran away with me.

“Yeah,” I smile, “fine. How do you feel about biscuits with the tea?”

“Ooh, I wouldn’t want to get crumbs in your bed though.”

“That’s what hoovers are for,” I wink, then leave the room before I jump into the bed and never leave.

When I walk back into the room with a tray of tea, biscuits and whatever else I could find that would mean we wouldn’t have to get out of bed again for at least a good couple of hours, (Y/N)’s sitting up looking at one of the books that I have on my bedside table, and she shuffles back over to her side with an apologetic look.

“Sorry,” she whispers, “being nosey.”

“As long as you didn’t look in the top drawer, it’s all good,” I joke, and she gasps playfully.

“Dammit!” she whines, “I want to see the weird sex toy drawer now!”

“Ohh, be careful what you wish for. It’s like the red room in there.”

“You’ve watched 50 Shades?”

“Where do you think my inspiration for the drawer came from?”

“I can’t actually tell if you’re joking or not right now and I love it,” she laughs, “I’m also sort of hoping that you’re not joking, because that will be a very interesting reveal later down the line...”

“Later down the line? As much as I like the fact you’re talking about the future already, I doubt you’ll be able to last the weekend without having a look in there.”

“I have self control, thank you very much!” she says matter of factly as she turns to face the television opposite the bed with her arms folded.

“Well at least one of us has, then,” I smirk as I put the tray down on the bedside table and slide underneath the covers.

I look over at her reaction to my rather bold comment and see her smiling to herself as she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear almost nervously, and I know I need to rein it in a little as she suddenly goes quiet.

“Sorry,” I say, “sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No no, don’t be,” she says, turning towards me and placing a hand on my forearm, “I’m just… I, er… Maybe this is too much too soon.”

There’s something she’s not telling me, and as much as I don’t want to push her into revealing it, I just want to help her. So much is conveyed through her eyes, they’re almost sad as she looks at me with a sorry expression, and I place my free hand on top of hers.

“You can tell me anything,” I say quietly, hoping that she will.


	8. Chapter 8

(Y/N) brings my hand up to her lips and kisses the back of my hand as a tear slips down her cheek and I have to fight the urge to cry with her as she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath against my skin. She lowers my hand to small gap on the duvet between us and strokes it, then blinks a few times as if to stop herself from bursting into tears, and when she finally looks up at me I can see the struggle as her eyes glisten.

“What made you walk up to me that day?” she asks, her voice almost breaking on the last word.

I want to ask her what’s wrong, I want to hold her close as she sobs, I want to cry as well, because seeing her like this is making my chest ache with sadness.

“There was just… Something about you, you caught my eye as soon as I saw you walk off the bridge.”

“The bridge?” she asks.

Shit, I hadn’t exactly explained the full extent of me following her that day. She’s already upset about something, and I’m just going to make things worse if I admit to basically stalking her.

“No, no, don’t do that face,” she says, noticing the obvious worry spread across my features, “tell me about that day. Start from the beginning, I want to hear it all.”

She maintains eye contact with me as her lips move into a weak smile that doesn’t reach her eyes, and I slide my hand out of her light grasp to lift my arm up out of the way.

“Better come here then,” I say softly, and she wastes no time in resting her head against my shoulder and draping an arm across my chest as we slide further under the covers to get comfortable.

The tea and biscuits have been well and truly forgotten as we settle in bed with whispered sighs, the covers rustle around gently as our legs find each other and weave together so naturally, and when we finally become still I stare up at the ceiling as her finger tips play lightly through the hair on my chest.

“I’d just come out of a meeting that had gone on for far too long. Not sure it was even worth me going really,” I start with a sigh, “and I found my way down to the river bank because I was feeling a little lost to be honest. I was just leaning on the wall when you came down the walkway and I saw your face light up when you looked over at the Globe, and that was it, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you even if I tried. Still can’t.”

I can feel her face move as she smiles and her cheek presses against me as her fingers stop momentarily, only continuing when I feel her smile fade.

“I couldn’t help but follow you inside, I knew I’d lose you forever if I didn’t and I realised that I couldn’t stand it if I let you go off into the crowds without doing _something_. I was sat on one of the seats outside the gallery you were in; I didn’t want to actually stalk you...”

She lets out a soft laugh, then kisses my skin as her hand slides up so sweetly to my neck where her thumb runs along my jawline gently.

“Then I saw you walking out so confidently and I knew right then that I had to speak to you, and when I got close enough to hear what you were listening to,” I let out a chuckle myself, “well, it was meant to be. I couldn’t quite believe my luck when you actually spoke back to me, and I definitely feel like I’m dreaming as I look at you right now.”

I twist my head as far as I can to try and look down at her, but she tilts her face down to look towards our legs so that all I can see is her hair. She takes a deep breath as her fingers trickle down my neck, over my shoulder, and eventually down to my stomach where I tense as the lightness of the touch tickles a little.

“Sorry,” she whispers, stilling her hand.

“Don’t be.”

That’s when I feel it, the first sign of the eventual sob that jolts her body against mine; the cold, wet tears that fall straight onto my skin, searing it with sadness. She tries to halt her sobs as she holds her breath and wills the tears to stop coming, and I don’t know what to do apart from tighten my grip around her body and hold her with both arms. After only a couple of minutes she manages to become calm once more, and lifts herself out of my grasp slowly as she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers, “so sorry. I don’t know what- Oh, God, this is so embarrassing. I’ve known you two weeks and I’m bawling like a bloody baby in front of you. Ridiculous,” she rambles as she sits up straight and looks away from me.

“Twenty days, actually,” I correct, and she turns to me over her shoulder with her hair hiding most of her face.

“Not that you’re counting, of course...”

“Oh, no, not at all,” I smirk.

(Y/N) turns to her bedside table to see the box of tissues next to the lamp and leans over to take a couple out, then turns to me and dabs at my torso where the small pools of her tears still lie. I grab onto her hand as she lifts it from my skin and she looks directly at me with what appears to be shame at what just happened, and I sit up so that I can place my hands on either side of her face. My eyes dart from her lips to her eyes and she does everything to avoid my gaze as I wonder whether to kiss her or ask her what’s wrong again.

“I don’t know what this is about, and I can only hope you let me know soon, but I just want to make you feel better,” I whisper, “seeing you like this feels like a knife going straight through my heart.”

“Sorr-”

“ _Stop saying that,_ ” I frown, “just… lay with me.”

“I can’t. Things like this don’t happen to people like me. I don’t deserve it, you’re just going to find out who I really am and run away. I don’t want to put you through that, and I won’t let it happen,” she sighs as her eyes begin to glaze over, and a barricade comes crashing down between us.

“Listen to me,” I say a little too firmly, “this has barely even begun but what I’ve experienced is something that I know I want to feel more of, and I know you feel it too, else you wouldn’t be here right now in this position with me. Whatever it is, we can face it together, because I’m in this for the long haul.”

She searches my eyes for some kind of doubt but there is nothing that could indicate anything other than that being the absolute truth, and when she realises that every word was heartfelt, her eyes suddenly become brighter as I look into them. I know I sounded a little harsh but this is how strongly I feel about this woman sitting in front of me; this beautiful soul who has somehow come into my life just when I really needed her, and I’ll be damned if I’m ever going to let her go. Whatever it is that is making her so sad, and feeling as though she isn’t worthy of anything good in her life, we’ll take it on together.

“I believe you,” she nods as her hands land on mine and gently tug them away from her face, “you’re right. Sure you want me to stick around after my emotions clearly got the better of me?”

“More than ever.”

“I’d better get us some fresh drinks then. I’m sure those have gone cold by now,” she smiles, her eyes darting over my shoulder to the forgotten cups on the tray.

“I’ll do it,” I smile, moving to take the covers off of my legs.

“No please, let me. You stay here and find something worth watching on the telly, maybe something other than a superhero film this time?” she smirks as she gets up and walks around the bed to my side.

Her sense of humour is back and I couldn’t be happier, even if I do know that there’s something that lies deep inside that momentarily takes that away from her sometimes.

“You’ve foiled my plan already!” I laugh as I get the remote out of the second drawer down while she picks up the cups.

“Ooh, that top drawer is seeming even more interesting now I know you don’t keep the remote in there,” she giggles.

“Still think you can go without having a peek all weekend?” I challenge.

“Absolutely,” she winks, “and I have a question for you...”

“Do go on...”

“Would it be okay to sleep in here tonight? Bold, I know, it’s just-”

“Of course it would,” I reply, cutting her off.

Bit eager, but screw it, we both know what’s happening here, and she may as well move in now because it’s completely inevitable. I hope.

“Great,” she grins, and with that disappears out of the room.

I sit up against the headboard with the soppiest of smiles adorning my face as I scroll through the tv guide not taking the slightest bit of notice to what’s on really, and as I plump up the pillows she was laying on not long ago, I get that familiar whiff of perfume. I close my eyes to savour it even though I know she’ll be back within a couple of minutes, and I can’t quite believe that this is happening. It’s a lot within a short space of time, yes, but this isn’t some whirlwind romance that’ll finish just as quick as it started; this is love in its purest form, and the thought of holding her tonight in this bed is almost enough to make me dizzy.


	9. Chapter 9

The sun is kissing her skin before I am and frankly I’m a little jealous as the light caresses her body so softly while she sleeps so soundly next to me. I prop myself up on my side with a bent arm supporting my head as I stare unashamedly at her laying here in my bed, warming my covers with the heat coming from her body, and when she moves in her sleep her nightdress slides upwards to reveal those intricate inked lines I love to study. If she wakes up and catches me staring I’m going to have to play this off really cool, and playing it cool is not one of my strong points, so this is a huge risk.

My free hand begins to twitch as I ache to reach out and touch her exposed skin that looks so inviting, the curves of her thighs so heavenly and soft as the sun illuminates her from behind. There’s an actual glow about her with the way the rays come in through the gap in the curtains and if I could take a photograph of this moment… Could I? I reach behind me blindly to try and find my phone then once I have it in front of me I quickly turn the sound off and open up the camera. I will of course tell her I did this and delete it if necessary, but there’s just something so beautiful about this moment and the sight before me that it deserves to be documented. I feel like this morning is a new beginning for us, there’s something in the air, and not just the small particles of dust that are floating around in the beams of light.

She begins to stir a little, the quietest sigh passing her lips as she shuffles about to get comfortable in a new position which happens to right up against me, and as she realises I’m there her eyes suddenly fly open with the slightest glimpse of worry in them as she gets her bearings. Her face soon softens when she sees me looking down at her and as her mind catches up to what’s going on, her lips turn up into the sweetest smile before she leans forward and kisses my chest.

“Way off target,” I whisper with a smirk.

“Where should I have been aiming?” she asks.

That’s naughty, that question is far too inviting and I’m not entirely sure I can keep myself from saying exactly what’s on my mind.

“Right here,” I reply, tapping my lips with my index finger.

“I definitely thought you were going to say something else then,” she giggles, burying her head in my chest in embarrassment.

“I very nearly did...”

“Mr. Lee!” she faux gasps as she tilts her head back to look up at me.

Her expression changes quick as a flash into one of intrigue, and she moves closer as she sits up to be at eye level, then she leans forward and kisses me. I want to devour her, every single inch of her skin needs to be introduced to my lips, and as much as my body aches to become one with hers I know it’s too soon, especially after the sadness she experienced last night. She pulls away all too soon and I practically pout at her as she nudges her nose against mine softly.

“Oh, I should mention...” I start, knowing I need to own up to the photo, “I’ll delete if you find it too weird, I just saw you this morning and...”

I trail off as I lift my phone to show her the picture of herself and she quietly gasps as she takes the device from my hands and studies the screen carefully.

“How did you do that?” she laughs.

“Do what?”

“Take a nice photo of me? Oh actually, it hasn’t got my face in it so that’s a bonus.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that,” I say sadly.

“Force of habit,” she grimaces, “sorry.”

I shake my head slowly and promise silently to myself that no matter how long it takes I will show her just how beautiful a person she is, both inside and out.

“What’s the plan for today?” she asks, “lunch with another famous actor?”

“Actually, I have this last minute thing I’ve been invited to.”

“I’m sure I can fend for myself in the house for a few hours,” she grins.

“No! I mean, I’d like you to come with me, if you want. I think it’ll be something you’d enjoy.”

“I… Hmm… What is it?” she asks, waiting to know all the facts before making a decision.

“The opening of the summer exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.”

“You’re joking,” she says, wide eyed at the thought of it, “how on earth could I say no?”

“That’s what I like to hear,” I smile, “there won’t be much press, and you won’t have to be photographed if you don’t want to.”

“Press,” she repeats, her face having dropped at the thought, “of course.”

Shit, I shouldn’t have said that.

“Maybe it’s not such a good idea,” she mutters, sitting up on the edge of the bed and facing away from me, “anyway, I didn’t exactly pack anything to wear to such an event. You go, I’ll hold the fort here.”

“You could wear that nightdress and you’d still be the best dressed woman there in my eyes.”

“Ah, I don’t know,” she sighs.

I get out of the bed and walk around to her side then get on my knees in front of her and take her hands in mine.

“Please come with me. Who am I going to laugh with if there’s some testicle eggs stuck to the wall, eh? I need you.”

She cracks a smile at the mention of the eggs and slowly nods her head in agreement.

“Have you got a black long sleeved shirt I can borrow?” she questions, obviously thinking about what to wear.

“Yes...” I reply with an interested look.

“Then I may be able to look half decent,” she winks, “lucky I packed a pair of heels just in case we left the house for something exciting. But first, breakfast.”

I lead the way downstairs and we begin our day together, just how it should be. We laugh over breakfast, we dance in the kitchen, then when we eventually peel ourselves off of the sofa after many in depth conversations about our childhood, and get ready for the afternoon at the Royal Academy it’s as if this had been planned the whole time. She appears from my room in her ankle grazer jeans with my shirt tucked into them, heeled boots, and a wicked grin on her face. The sleeves of the shirt are rolled up to her elbow and the buttons are undone to create a V shape that stops just above her bosom.

“Wow,” I breathe, “you make that shirt look… Well… Good enough to rip off.”

“There will be absolutely no ripping of the Stella McCartney!” she laughs, “I can’t believe you’re trusting me with this.”

“I trust you with my life, my McCartney is nothing,” I chuckle.

She waits downstairs as I dress in a rather daring leopard print shirt and blue suit, but this is an art exhibition after all, so the perfect place to take a risk. As soon as she hears me descending the stairs she runs out of the lounge to see what I’m wearing and her mouth drops open, hopefully in a good way rather than anything else.

“You’re really testing me, aren’t you?” she questions, looking me up and down in a way that almost makes we want to carry up to the bedroom and have her right now.

“Testing you?”

“I mean, if you want my eyes to be fixed on you all night instead of the actual exhibits then congratulations,” she grins.

I blush. I never blush. No one has ever made me blush but this enchanting woman standing before me right now.

“Well the feeling’s mutual,” I smile, “it’ll be like the Tate all over again. Ready to go?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she nods, “bit much for one of our first dates, but I’ll go with it!”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less from us though, we don’t do things the right way around do we?”

“True,” she laughs, “we don’t do things by half, either.”

We get into the waiting car then at the other side I hop out first so I can open her door for her which definitely takes her by surprise judging by the stunned look on her face. If it were up to me she’d never have to touch another door handle again. We walk towards the brightly coloured carpeted entrance hand in hand, then as soon as she sees a photographer she slows down a little, and I know we need to temporarily part but my fingers don’t seem to be loosening their grip quick enough. Her hand slips from mine just in time for her to stand to the side as I look toward the cameras, but I soon turn to her and motion for her to come forwards and join me as the photographer waits patiently. I know it’s a risky move, as she could run away in all fairness, but I have to try because I have this overwhelming urge to show everyone this extraordinary woman who is with here with _me_. She rolls her eyes at me but walks over with a shy smile and she rests her hand on my shoulder like a pro as I slide my arm around her waist.

“Thank you,” the photographer nods.

“I’m sorry,” I apologise quietly, then lean down to whisper in her ear, “I just… Look at you. You’re here with me, wearing my shirt and I want everyone to know.”

The sentence ends as a sort of growl, and I must have said something right because she lets out the shortest, sweetest, softest moan as her lips graze against my cheek. I know tonight is going to be one to remember.


	10. Chapter 10

We stand at the edge of the room as (Y/N) takes in the people in the crowd, most of them famous, some of them very famous, and she tugs on my jacket sleeve when she spots Grayson Perry and Kylie Minogue standing together with Luke Evans.

“I knew there were going to be well known faces here,” she whispers, “but this is ridiculous.”

She hides her admiration well, just like she did with Ben, and I know I wouldn’t be playing it this cool if I were in her shoes. I nod to people I know as they walk by and they all look at her standing next to me, wondering who she is, which makes me a grin wickedly to myself as only we know our secret even though we’re in such a public place.

“What are you smirking about?” she asks, noticing my smile.

“I just like being here with you.”

“It’s not that… You’ve got a glint in your eye,” she pushes.

“A glint?”

“A glint,” she nods, “what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that this is nice, having a secret that no one else here knows. Everyone’s lives here are so public, and yet here I am standing with this mysterious woman no one knows. It’s a good feeling.”

“Scandalous, Mr. Lee. Absolutely scandalous,” she grins, rubbing her hand up and down my arm excitedly, “do you want to go and mingle while I stare at the art?”

“I’m not letting you out of my sight,” I reply.

We begin to walk, leaving the comfort of the outskirts of the room to find a path through the crowds who are drinking champagne and giggling amongst themselves. (Y/N) smiles politely as we pass actors, actresses, designers, and artists one after the other while I say hellos and make small talk when we stop for a few seconds. Thankfully no one mentions Bohemian Rhapsody by name, and as we get to the other side of the crowd as the musical act takes stage, the other suave Welshman in the room approaches us with a smile.

“Evening!” he beams, “congratulations on passing nine hundred million at the box office, my friend.”

“Thank you!” I nod, “haven’t seen you in a long time. How are things?”

(Y/N) looks between us as we talk, then Luke turns his attention to her with a very warm smile and a kiss on each cheek.

“And where on earth has he been hiding you?” he beams, with that suave air he’s so natural at.

“Bedroom closet,” she smirks, “he lets me out for special occasions.”

“Well I’m very glad he’s decided to let you out tonight,” he smiles, “it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you my dear.”

Damn, he’s smooth. He chats with (Y/N) for a short while before he spots another acquaintance and says his goodbyes to us just as James Bay begins his set on the stage. (Y/N) turns to me as I slide my arm around her waist, and opens her mouth to say something then quickly shuts it again as she rethinks her decision. I wait a few seconds until she builds up the courage to say what she wants to, and it’s beyond anything I could have imagined coming from her lips.

“Y’know, this kind of place would be ideal for married couples to break off and pretend they don’t know each other just to eye one another up all night across the crowded floor, then reconvene at the bar before having a night of passion,” she states casually as we continue to walk around the exhibits as the first song starts.

“Can it work for people who aren’t a couple yet, but definitely will be in the very near future?” I ask with a knowing smile.

“Let’s try,” she grins, slipping out of my grasp and into the throng of people.

I keep a watchful eye on her as she slips through the gasp in the crowd, smiling and nodding politely whenever someone catches her eye. People were turning around just to see who this woman was that had arrived on my arm, and I can see her turning away from their gazes shyly. She genuinely has no idea how beautiful she looks, and I can’t take my eyes off of her, even when I spy a tray of drinks out of the corner of my eye. Goodness knows how I didn’t knock the whole lot over. She locks eyes with me as she stops in her tracks when someone walks in front of her and she winks before moving around them and out of sight briefly. As soon as I spot her again, another acquaintance makes themselves known to me and I have to tear my eyes away from her and my shirt that gets to sit comfortably against her silky soft skin all night.

“Long time no see!”

“Very long time,” I reply, forcing a smile as I’m dragged into a conversation I really don’t want to have right now.

Suddenly her laughter fills the room, well to me it does anyway, but no one else seems to notice the sound that would put the sweetest song bird to shame. Then it dawns on me; who is making her laugh so much? I scan the room as inconspicuously as possible as I try to carry on my conversation, then I spot the back of her – my oh so familiar shirt standing out from the crowd on such a beautiful body. I look past her to see the person who appears to be so amusing and see a well known face. Bloody Ben.

It takes all my willpower not to walk over there, grab her by the arm, throw her against a wall and… Oh dear, now I have the most overwhelming urge to kiss her thighs.

“Well it was great to finally catch up again!”

“Yes,” I smile politely, “we won’t leave it as long next time.”

I stroll through the gathering of people that had thankfully thinned out thanks to the live act on stage and Ben spots me coming a mile off, making sure to shoot me a smirk before I get to him.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” he chuckles, “were your ears burning?”

“You could say that,” I smile, making sure to stand close to (Y/N) so I can slip my arm around her waist and feel some of her body warmth once more.

I glance down at her quickly as she leans into me without much prompting and I see a glimpse of cleavage thanks to v of buttons that she didn’t bother fastening, and I clear my throat as I shift my stance a little while I try to lift my gaze and focus on Ben.

“Everything alright mate?” he asks, knowing exactly what was going on.

“Fine. You didn’t tell me you were coming here tonight,” I say to change the subject quickly.

“Didn’t want to ruin the surprise did I? Seeing (Y/N) here was an unexpected bonus though! I was just complimenting her on her shirt, and I’m pretty sure I complimented you on it when we were in LA, right?” he winks, making (Y/N) giggle.

“You did,” I grin smugly.

“Looks better on (Y/N) though, sorry mate.”

“It really does, doesn’t it?” I smile, looking down at her again.

This time she looks up at me as well and we both know there’s a sudden change in the atmosphere between us as we hold our breath momentarily when we lock eyes. There’s a tension that hangs between us, an energy that’s begging to be released, and when her hand lands on my chest as she turns her body into mine I feel like it’s time for us to leave.

“Excuse me, could I get a photograph of you two?” one of the press asks, gesturing between myself and Ben.

“Of course,” I reply as (Y/N) immediately moves from my touch and steps out of the way.

This was one of the things I hated about being in the spotlight and she’d had to do it more than she should have for the amount of time we’ve known each other, yet she stood there with an admiring smile as me and Ben squeeze together in a tight hug with soppy grins on our faces.

“I think we should have a (Y/N) sandwich,” Ben pipes up just as the photographer goes to leave.

She smiles shyly as she dips her head down in embarrassment, but makes her way over to us without a word and we start sensibly but soon end with her pressed against us both as we hug around her body.

“They’re going to be on instagram within the next 24 hours, I guarantee it,” Ben states as he lets go of (Y/N) and I stay glued to her side, “especially the one of all three of us.”

I look at him wide eyed in slight horror at the mention, and he realises he’s fucked up.

“Oh my god,” she gasps, looking between the two of us, “I don’t even follow you two. Probably for the best if stuff like that gets posted.”

“I’m sure Gwil will give you his private one,” Ben winks, “anyway, I’m going leave you two love birds to it, some of us _have_ to be sociable...”

Ben leaves us after goodbye that was far too long when he stood there holding (Y/N)’s hands between his, and she turns to me with an expectant smile as soon as he starts walking away. She looks around the room then takes my hand and leads me away from the busy floor into one of the quieter exhibition rooms where there’s only a handful of people standing around chatting away without the music drowning them out. We carry on walking through until we get to the next room which is miraculously empty and she pulls me into one of the darkened corners that are so welcoming to our desperate bodies.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers as I back her up against the wall, “I just really want to kiss you.”

She runs her hands up the front of my shirt then they snake around to the back of my neck, and before she can put any pressure on my skin to pull me down for a kiss, my lips meet hers in an unashamedly needy kiss. My thumbs dig into her hips as I grip onto her body as tightly as I can and she rolls them against me; I’m unsure whether that’s on purpose or an automatic reaction, but either way it stokes the fire she ignited that first day I saw her, and I’m going to have to stand behind her all night if this carries on.

“Gwilym,” she sighs in pleasure as I divert my kisses down to her neck.

Please say it again, moan my name again and I promise to always make you feel this good.

“Gwilym,” she exhales once more.


	11. Chapter 11

The click of heels coming towards _our_ room, _our_ small sanctuary away from everyone else where we could act on our desires tears us apart all to quickly, and we make one another laugh as our faces contort into the most immature pouts possible. I take her hand and we walk past the intruders that had invaded our space and back to the previous gallery where we spend some time actually studying the exhibits on show.

“Well, I for one am very disappointed by the lack of egg testicles,” (Y/N) sighs as she leans against my arm with our fingers still linked together.

“So am I. It’s just not the same is it?”

She looks up at me with those eyes that make my heart skip a beat, and gives me the most soothing smile I’ve ever seen in my life. We’ve got to know each other quite well this weekend already, but there’s still so much I want to ask her, and the words jumble themselves up in my mind as I struggle to think of what to ask first.

“Must have been a pretty big film to make over nine hundred million at the box office,” she says out of the blue, “I’m sorry I’m a little out of the loop.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, you don’t need to see everything I’m in. You’d get sick of me too quickly,” I joke.

“Never,” she replies sincerely, “I’d never get sick of you.”

“Do you want to get out of here?”

“Only if it’s okay for you to leave so soon. I don’t want you to get in trouble for leaving this event when you should have stayed.”

“Of course it’s okay,” I chuckle, “we’ve been here long enough.”

We slip through the crowds to the exit, no one taking any notice now that the free champagne had been flowing for a good couple of hours, and emerge into the surprisingly warm evening outside hand in hand. She leans against me as we walk slowly with no particular destination in mind right now and her free hand comes up to hold my bicep as her thumb strokes over the fabric of my blazer. This was nice, just the two of us walking down a fairly quiet street in a comfortable silence; although I do fancy something to eat.

“You hungry?” I ask.

“Starving,” she replies, giving my arm a squeeze.

Does she still feel shy around me? Would she have said anything about being hungry if I hadn’t have asked her? She’s too polite, although that kiss showed she definitely has another side that will be an absolute thrill to explore eventually; I can’t stop thinking about her lips against mine, her tongue slipping in and out of my mouth and how sweet it would feel if-

“How about something from here?” she asks, interrupting my thoughts and nodding towards a well lit chippy.

“Perfect,” I agree, changing direction to the take away.

(Y/N) pays after insisting that she needs to do _something_ being as I’m letting her stay at mine again, and I stay outside looking through the glass window at her as she orders and waits for the food. I could watch her all day, and all night for that matter; I’ve totally and utterly fallen for her and I can’t help but think about the next time we’ll see one another already even though we still have tonight and hopefully most of tomorrow. She exits the chip shop with a skip then opens up the paper to reveal the large tray of steaming food, and we both hum excitedly before digging in, then she hands the tray to me just so she can weave her hand around my arm and hold me close.

“Tell me one thing no one else knows about you,” I say as we walk down the street sharing the chips as we stroll casually.

She pauses for a while, thinking this over seriously, and when she decides on what to say she straightens up her posture, lets go of me, and clears her throat as if preparing for something big.

“So this relates to my little crying blip I had, and technically other people do know this, but I can count them on one hand...” she explains, and I nod as I wait with baited breath to hear what this is, “I’m not prepared to tell you everything just yet, but what I will say is that my love for all things Queen runs a little deeper than their music; specifically my love for Freddie.”

She stops again and so does our walk as I turn to face her, but she steps away, needing to not make eye contact with me while she says what it is she needs to get off her chest.

“Long story short I know the impact one, in hindsight stupid mistake, can make on the rest of your life. It’s not that I… It’s nowhere near as serious… It just… There’s an understanding… And he gives me hope that no matter what happened, you can find someone who’ll love you. Anyway that’s enough of that, I’m rambling and the chips are getting cold.”

She moves towards the tray of food I’m holding in one hand but I lift them out of the way which earns a frown directed straight at me, but I don’t care, I need to hold her, I need to make it better, I need to kiss her, feel her body against mine as I say that it’s me, I’m the someone who loves her regardless of what’s happened or what will happen. It’s me. I turn around and place the tray on the nearest wall before enveloping (Y/N) in my arms and she tentatively slides her hands around my torso as she returns the embrace.

“I didn’t say it for sympathy,” she mumbles into my shirt.

“I’m not hugging you because of that,” I sigh.

“Then why?” she asks, pulling back a little, but not a lot thanks to my tight grasp.

“Because...” I stop, suddenly worried that my confession of love sounds a bit much so soon, and she’s looking at me with a worried expression now. I need to finish my sentence but I don’t know whether it’s a good idea, and her frown is getting deeper, and there’s tears pricking her eyes, and- “because I believe there’s a reason that you crossed my path, and I now know why.”

“Are you saying Freddie bought us together?” she asks as a smile tugs at one side of her mouth.

“I think he bloody did,” I chuckle, knowing that there’s more to this than meets the eye.

“Another one bites the dust can’t be our song though… Doesn’t really send the right message, does it?” she smirks.

 _Our song_. I like the sound of that, and my ridiculously soppy grin definitely gives that away.

“True… We’ll have to think of something else,” I say as I mull it over, and it’ll have to be suitable for a wedding of course.

“But for now, it’s your turn,” she says, picking up the tray of chips from the wall and offering me one, “tell me something no one else knows about you.”

I chew my food and swallow hard before taking her free hand and bringing it up to my lips to kiss her knuckles, then I keep it in mine as my thumb runs over her fingers comfortingly.

“The film Ben and I were in was big, bigger than we ever thought it would be,” I sigh, and she steps towards me as I now avoid her gaze, “personally I’d never quite experienced anything like it, and it was such a roller coaster ride, but the slump afterwards… I mean, it wasn’t like I didn’t have anything to do, but it hit hard, and people tend to think that jobs will be rushing in after something like that, but that’s not necessarily true. I was sort of nose diving into some black hole, or at least that’s how it felt, and then that meeting happened when I had to escape down to the river afterwards just to clear my head… Then you appeared.”

“Have you spoken to _anyone_ about this?” she asks with concern as she slips her hand from mine to place it on my cheek and redirect my gaze to her.

“I’ve discussed it with Ben a little, but only in passing, nothing too deep.”

“You’ve got me now,” she says quietly yet oh so sincerely as her thumb strokes the top of my cheek, “you can tell me anything.”

“And the same goes for you,” I reply as I place a hand over hers on my face, “nothing, and I mean _nothing_ will ever change my opinion of you. Whatever it is, you’re stuck with me; can’t get rid of me now.”

She smiles a sad smile that tells me she’s unsure of my statement being as I still don’t know the full story, but she leans up to kiss me nonetheless and I’m desperate for more once again as I lick the salt from the chips from her lips.

“We’d better get back to yours,” she breathes once we part, “you’re making me a little flustered with those sorts of kisses.”

“Now you know how I feel,” I grin, grabbing another chip from the tray and popping it in my mouth smugly.

We discard the now empty wrapper in a bin just around the corner from my house then as soon as we’re through the door, she’s leading me up the stairs in silence; her fingers neatly linked through mine as she lets her arm trail behind her to keep a hold of me. I don’t expect anything like _that_ to happen, but I know that I’m being led to yet another step in our relationship, and I couldn’t be happier at the thought.


	12. Chapter 12

Why does the urge to go to the toilet always come on at the most inappropriate times? I’m being lead up my own staircase by the most incredible woman I’ve ever met, and _now_ my bladder decides it’s a good time to let all the free champagne out. I’m holding off for as long as humanly possible because I don’t want to miss one second of what she has in mind for us as we make a right turn at the top of the stairs and head into our bedroom. It’s ours now, not mine, she’s infiltrated this whole house and it’s as if I’ve only just moved in again with how fresh and new everything seems; it’s truly wondrous.

We stop next to the bed and I can see her calves touching the edge of it while I stand in front of her with my hand still firmly in hers as she wonders how to approach the next step. I keep my gaze fixed on her face as I wait for her to meet my eyes, but before she can say or do anything I have got to go to the bathroom. Fuck.

“I’m so sorry,” I say as I begrudgingly pull my hand away from hers, “that bloody champers is… well, I really need the loo. I’ll be two seconds I promise.”

She begins to laugh and I so wish I could stay and see that smile dance its way across her face properly, but the urge is too strong and I leg it to the bathroom just in time. I give myself a small pep talk in the mirror before straightening up my clothes and exiting to return to the bedroom where I find a sight so breathtaking that I have to reach a hand out to the door frame and steady myself. There she is drinking from a glass of water as she perches on the side of the bed with her boots and jeans in a neat pile on the floor; the only thing covering her body being my shirt. _My shirt._

“Sorry,” she smiles as she puts the glass down on the bedside table, “I just wanted to… Uh… I’m sorry, this is really embarrassing.”

She drops her down to look at her lap and shakes it slowly from side to side with a deep sigh as if she’d done something wrong, and I kneel before her to duck my head down and meet her eyes as I tentatively place my hands on her bare thighs.

“Nothing is as embarrassing as me running off to the toilet because I drank one too many glasses of bubbly at the show,” I smile reassuringly.

Her head lifts a little and I see that shy smile that I fell in love with the first time I saw it when we met, then she caresses my hands as she finally meets my gaze.

“I just want to… Oh god, I’m going to say this really quickly because in my head it sounds so lame… I’ve had this urge to be close to you since we met, it’s overwhelming. I want to feel what it’s like-”

“To be completely wrapped up in you,” I interrupt with a hoarse whisper.

My mouth has gone completely dry as I hear the words I’ve been thinking for the past few weeks tumble out of her mouth so timidly yet so beautifully. Is it genuinely possible that she can read my mind, or is this something that’s just simply meant to be? Her eyes widen at my finishing of her sentence and she slides down to kneel with me on the floor, her hands staying on mine as they run up her thighs, over the top of her knickers, then to her bare middle underneath the shirt where she then leaves my fingers and runs her hands up the front of my jacket.

“You can take it off,” she whispers as I feel her tremble beneath my fingertips.

My lips part to reply but I can’t find an appropriate word to say in response, so I close them again as I remove my now shaking hands from underneath the fabric and try to steady them enough to undo that first button right in between her cleavage. My heart begins to race when I finally reach the last one and I gently lift the shirt off of her shoulders and slide it down her arms as she removes her hands from my chest to let the garment fall onto her calves. There she is with just her underwear covering the most intimate of places on her body, and suddenly my hands don’t know what to do now they’ve let go of the shirt. I place them on her hips for fear of looking like an idiot just staring at her, and I notice her close her eyes as if fighting against a voice inside her head that was telling her to cover up.

“You’re beautiful,” I breathe as I take in every freckle, line, and dimple.

She forces a smile and I can tell that baring all to someone was something she hadn’t done in a very long time. Her hips sit a little over the edge of her underwear and her soft stomach is so perfectly rounded that I just want to kiss it. There’s no reason for her to be self conscious in my eyes but of course I’d say that because I’m head over heels for the woman.

“I don’t know about you, but my knees are aching,” I chuckle, “why don’t we take this somewhere a little more comfortable?”

“Do you need some help?” she asks with a laugh, moving the shirt from the back of her legs before standing.

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” I say as I lean on the bedside table and stand up with an exasperated sigh.

She takes the first bold step towards me and slips my jacket off within a couple of seconds, being careful to throw it neatly onto the chair in the corner, then she untucks my shirt with great precision and works from the top button down until I’m free of that layer of unnecessary clothing too. Her eyes meet mine before her hands slowly move towards my trousers, and I give a nod for her to carry on; her fingers delicately unhooking the button then pulling my zip down and letting the waistband fall down my legs. This was beyond the obvious sexual attraction between us both, this was a raw form of intimacy with two people sharing warmth, contact, insecurities, and baring their souls.

“You’re so gorgeous,” she whispers as I step out of my trousers, “everything about you is perfect.”

No one’s ever said that to my face before; there’s the fans on instagram with their over the top comments, sure, but this is real life, this is pure love. I don’t know what to say to her comment though, and I stand there like a fool for a few seconds until she slides her arms around my waist and presses her cheek against my chest followed by every inch of her skin that could be on mine. One of my arms cradles her shoulders while the other rests on the small of her back, just above the curve of her backside, and she hums happily at the contact.

“Do you want to lay down?” I ask, my throat dry once again.

“That would be a good idea,” she chuckles as she leans away from me to look up into my eyes, “I’ll just pop to the loo, be right back.”

I watch her walk down the hallway and as soon as the bathroom door closes I let out a deep breath, still unable to believe what’s happening. I’m just relieved my body hasn’t given away how excited I am about the prospect of seeing almost all of her, and the utter honour of being so close to her. The bed bounces a little as I throw myself down on it on top of the covers, and I roll onto my back with a large sigh as I wonder how to explain that I won’t be here for three weeks due to the press tour in Australia. Just as I go to hide my eyes with my forearm she returns to the room and I drop it above my head as I notice her hand holding her bra up against her chest; the clips dangling at the sides and the straps hanging down with them. I gulp as she kneels on the bed beside me then quickly discards the bra to one side before she rests her chest against the side of my torso.

“Sorry, but laying down in a bra is the worst form of torture,” she smiles as she tilts her head up to see my double chin greeting her as I look down.

“Well you’ll hear no complaints from me about what just happened,” I grin, and I must look awful from this angle.

She reaches her hand up to run the backs of her fingers over the now folded stubbly skin on my neck, then places her palm on my cheek as her leg hooks over mine and I can feel her thigh against my now hardening length. Her body shuffles closer as more of her skin covers mine, and my arms wrap around her to keep her squeezed into my side, then her thumb begins to stroke gently over my face and her head tilts down so she can begin dropping kisses onto my chest. I feel her push herself up a little so she can reach my neck and my nostrils flare as I close my eyes and try to keep my breathing as steady as possible while I will my erection to stop growing. This is turning me on more than the actual act of making love, and if she continues her kisses around my neck and shoulder I’ll surely be able to reach orgasm.

“Gwilym,” she whispers between her lips landing on my flushed skin, “I’ve really fallen for you.”

Her hand travels down from my cheek, over my nipple, down to my stomach, then back up again which makes my body twitch and my stiffness brush against her thigh, then she swings her hips around to grind herself against mine. We’re getting carried away and we need to stop before things go too far, so I slide one hand down over her bum and stop when I get to her thigh and cuddle her top half tighter.

“I’m in love with you,” I admit quietly as she presses her lips to my skin once more, “and this couldn’t be a worse time to tell you this, but it needs to be said...”

“What is it?” she asks with a concerned expression now that she lifts her head from my shoulder.

“I’m going away for three weeks on Thursday,” I sigh, “it’s for the premiere of Top End Wedding in Australia, and we’re going around the country for the openings.”

“That’s amazing,” she smiles, “be sure to take plenty of photos to show me when you get back.”

She settles back down with her cheek laying next to my neck and her fingers draw circles on my chest, tickling the hairs as she sweeps through them, and although there was an initial smile I feel as though she’s as sad about this time apart as I am.

“I do mean it,” she whispers, “it is amazing that you’re travelling there to promote your film; but I have to admit my heart sank a little just then, and I’ll miss you a lot.”

“We’ll just have to lay here all day tomorrow then to make up for the time apart. I’m already dreading being away from you.”

“Don’t say that, don’t dread it, it’ll be fine,” she reassures, “we’ll keep in touch, we can do video calls can’t we?”

“But it won’t be _this_ , will it? I’m in heaven laying here with you.”

“It can be this when you get back,” she grins, leaning up to plant the softest kiss against my lips, “and we still have tomorrow.”


	13. Chapter 13

The blissful silence as we continue to lay with our half naked bodies tangled together is broken by the rude awakening of my phone going off with notifications, and when I manage to reach it without losing too much contact with her skin, I spot that it’s all Ben’s fault. Typical. A quiet hum emanates from her lips as she shuffles closer to me from where I moved, but she leaves me to check my phone without any questions. There’s the photo on instagram that everyone is going wild over; Ben, (Y/N), and myself from earlier. The comments speculate who she’s with, who she is, if she’s been seen with one of us before, whether she was part of the crew from our film, and I roll my eyes before locking the device and placing it down on the floor next to the bed.

“Everything okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, Ben put up that photo of us though. I can ask him to take it down if you want.”

“Can I see?”

I pick up my phone and return to the page but position it so that the comments aren’t in view, and I dip it down in front of her face.

“Oh, cute,” she chuckles, “I take it from the amount of likes that his profile is very much public...”

“Yes, he definitely doesn’t have that many friends,” I tease.

“I should give him a follow really, shouldn’t I? And you as well for that matter.”

“Where’s your phone? I’ll direct you to my private account instead.”

She wriggles over to the other side of the bed and digs around in her bag until she finds the thing, then slides back over to me, being careful not to reveal too much of herself as she settles back against my torso and I feel her soft breasts warming my skin once more. After a quick unlock of the phone, she opens up the app and hands me control without a second thought. I go to Ben’s profile first and hit the follow button for her, then search my lesser known private profile and also press the same button there. Ben’s follow request comes through within seconds and I narrow my eyes at his quick reactions to seeing her name pop up on his notifications.

“Should I accept or deny Ben Hardy’s follow request?” I ask.

“Ha! What a question. One I never thought I’d hear in my life… Accept please,” she replies as she smiles against my chest.

“Done, now my turn,” I say as I switch between our devices.

“Guess it sort of comes with the territory then, having a private profile and all?” she thinks aloud.

“Sometimes. I post a lot of family photos and such, so when I started getting a bit more attention on social media I made it private and created a separate page for the fans really. I like to share things with them, just not _everything_.”

“Completely understandable. Thank you for allowing me into this sacred part of your life,” she says sincerely.

“How could I not? You’re part of it now,” I smile as she tilts her head up to meet my loving gaze.

“That’s nice to hear,” she grins, then her face falls as she continues to look at me, “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Not half as much as I’m going to miss you,” I sigh.

“I’m sorry, I’m not making this any better am I? Maybe it’ll be a good thing though, being as we’ve moved quite quickly so far… It’ll slow us down a little,” she reasons.

“I don’t want to slow down...” I admit.

“Neither do I… Absence makes the heart grow fonder though, doesn’t it?”

“I’m not sure I could be any fonder of you.”

“Gwilym,” she smiles, “you’re far too complimentary, I’m not sure I deserve-”

“You do. You deserve everything, and I’m going to make sure you know how special you are every day.”

She moves up my body again and when our lips meet I see stars straight away, then my hands lose all control as they start to explore her body, and my fingers tremble as they feel their way around her, the feel of her soft flesh not helping my increasingly aroused state. Her thigh moves over my hip and when it reaches my inconvenient reaction to this situation she springs apart from me with a gasp.

“I’m so sorry!” she says while her hands stay on my cheeks.

“Don’t be,” I chuckle, “who can blame me when I’ve got you draped topless across my body?”

“I didn’t think I’d ever have that effect on anyone to be honest,” she half laughs, but the self deprecating humour only makes me frown a little and she notices my expression, “sorry… I retract that statement. Do you want me to…?”

“No! Well, yes, obviously, but not now, it’ll go away on its own eventually. I don’t want our first sexually intimate encounter to be because of an awkward erection.”

She pouts playfully then leans in to kiss my neck slowly.

“You’re too good to be true,” she whispers, “shall we make something to eat? All this nude snuggling has made me hungry.”

“God yes, I’m starving!”

She sits up with a smile, not bothering to try and cover herself this time, and my eyes grow wide at the quick glimpse of her beautiful breasts before she turns around and slides off of the bed to retrieve my shirt; only bothering to fasten one button on it, much to my delight. Her bare feet pad their way over to the window where she looks out onto the street below while I get up off of the bed and slide some joggers over my legs.

“What are you thinking?” I ask as I walk up behind her and slide my arms around her waist.

“How lucky I am,” she says quietly, placing her hands on my arms.

“I’ve been thinking that too, funnily enough,” I smile before placing my lips against her neck.

She turns around in my arms and reaches up to link her hands at the back of my neck, then pulls me down for a kiss while my hands rest comfortably on her bum.

“Let’s go eat,” she grins when she pulls away.

Not a second goes by when I’m not smiling as we dance around each other in the kitchen as if she’s always been here, and the only silence that falls over us is when our mouths are full of the creation we made together. My mind wanders to tomorrow and the eventual goodbye that would have to last for over three weeks, and I feel my heart sink at the thought of it all, but she’s there to lift my spirits straight away as if she knows what’s going on in my head by just looking at me. When dinner is over and everything has been put back in its place we make our way upstairs once more and resume our position in bed; putting on a film until we both drift off to sleep with our bodies so close that it’s hard to determine where I end and she begins.

The first thing to wake me is my phone as the notification of movement outside the house rings through, and I unlock it to look at the screen with sleep misted eyes to see four very familiar faces making their way towards the front door. The next thing that really wakes me, and her, up is the doorbell going and the letterbox fluttering thanks to the two sets of smaller hands that are obviously excited about this visit.

“Who’s that?” she panics as she sits up and clutches the sheets to her chest.

“That would be my brother, his wife, and my niece and nephew...” I say with a wince, “I completely forgot they were coming over, I’m so sorry.”

“You forgot your own brother was coming over?” she laughs, “you’re an awful person!”

“Shit, I really am. Shit, shit, shit!” I repeat as I scramble out of bed and into my pyjamas as the door rings again, “fuck!”

She chuckles as I hop around trying to get my jogging bottoms up my legs as quickly as possible and I laugh along with her when I catch her eye, then I rush around to her side of the bed, leave a hard kiss against her mouth, then run downstairs to answer the door.

“Hello! I absolutely did not forget you were all coming over today,” I pant as I stand to one side and greet everyone as they file in past me.

“You absolutely did,” Owen replies, “but whatever, it’s only your beloved family coming to visit you before you jet off to the other side of the world, no big deal.”

“Is someone here?” Kelly asks as she spots boots and a coat that definitely did not belong to me.

“It’s _her_ , isn’t it?!” Owen gasps.

“Shh!” I whisper as I usher everyone into the living room and shut the door.

“Well your messy hair and back to front top suddenly make sense now...” Kelly giggles.

“It’s not like _that_! We just slept in. Anyway, how are my favourite niece and nephew?” I grin as I turn my attention to the kids in hope the adults would forget about everything.

“Aren’t we your only niece and nephew?” Lily asks with a questioning gaze.

“Doesn’t mean you need to be my favourites though, does it?” I wink.

They both hug me and I close my eyes as I savour the feel of these two little treasures in my arms; they were both growing up far too quickly, and I definitely didn’t see them enough these days.

“Right, well how about you lot make yourself at home and I will get changed into something that isn’t back to front!” I suggest before Kelly and the kids head towards the kitchen, “I’ll, uh, talk to-”

“Invite her down,” Owen interrupts, “it’s as if I know her already the amount you’ve been talking about her. Her little cousin’s the same age as Jake, right? I’m sure she’ll get along with the kids just fine.”

“You sure?”

“I know you, remember? I can see the love in those big soppy blue eyes of yours, it’s completely sickening of course,” he teases, “now go get your woman and bring her down to meet us mad lot. We won’t put her off of marrying you _at all_.”

I give him a playful shove for that last remark then head upstairs to see her standing shyly by the bedroom door now fully dressed with her small suitcase in hand.


	14. Chapter 14

“So shall I sneak out the front or the back?” she asks with a smile.

“What?” I question with a frown.

“Well I’m not going to gatecrash family time, especially as you’re off for a few weeks,” she replies, “so how can I escape without them seeing me?”

“No, listen, come here,” I sigh as I walk past her into the bedroom and gently pull her in with me before closing the door.

I start to change out of my pyjamas and into some proper clothes, and when I turn around to see her sitting on my bed I can’t help but smile. Part of my problem right now is that I don’t see a problem; being with her is all too natural and it’s like a portion of my brain is saying she’s already met whole family, so why is she trying to leave? I take a deep breath and sit down next to her once I’ve sprayed some nice smelling stuff over my body and covered it with a t-shirt that is definitely not the wrong way around.

“Stay,” I whisper as I place one of my hands over hers.

She also sighs as she leans against my side and takes a deep inhale with a happy hum – is my smell comforting to her?

“I’m torn, Gwilym,” she says quietly, “this is your family and I’m some strange woman you’ve not even known for a month. What if I meet them and then never see them again because you realise-”

“No ‘what ifs’,” I interrupt a little harshly, “sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so sharp. Let’s just go with it. The only thing I could ever realise about you is that I love you more than I did yesterday.”

“Just go with it, huh?” she smirks, “easy for you to say. You’re not the one meeting the most important people in the person who you happen to have rather a big thing for’s life!”

“A rather _big_ thing, eh? Just how big are we talking?” I grin.

“I’ve fallen head over heels for you. That’s how big.”

“Well good, because the feeling is entirely mutual as you know. Plus, both Kelly and Owen have seen your coat and boots downstairs, so explaining how they magically disappeared would be awkward.”

“Oh, so _that’s_ the real reason you want me to stay,” she winks.

“Busted,” I laugh.

“You smell amazing,” she sighs as she nudges her suitcase to the side and cuddles up to me a little more.

I smile to myself at her comment and rest my cheek on the top of her head as our fingers interlink, then a series of fast, sharp knocks at the bedroom door cause us to spring apart.

“Lily! Get back down here now!” Kelly calls up the stairs.

“But Uncle Gwil is taking so long!” Lily shouts back.

We hold our breaths as the door handle moves and I jump up to open the door, giving her a fright as any good uncle would, and her eyes immediately land on the woman sitting on my bed with a shy smile once she’s over the shock of me yanking the door open.

“Lily!” Kelly calls out again, now ascending the stairs.

“We’ve got her!” I reassure, then scoop her up into my arms which makes her squeal with delight, and I hear Kelly retreat back down.

Lily stares at the stranger sat in front of her; the stranger that makes my heart race when I touch her skin, my home seem like a whole new place, and every room appear brighter, then she turns to me and whispers in my ear.

“Uncle Gwil, does the lady want to join our tea party?” she asks.

“Shall I ask her?” I question quietly, and she nods enthusiastically, so I turn to my love with a smile, “Lily would like to know if you want to join our tea party.”

“I love tea parties!” she grins, “I would love to join, if that’s okay.”

“Is that okay, Lily?” I ask, turning back to her now leaning her cheek on my shoulder, “oh come on, don’t go all shy now!”

“It’s okay,” she replies with a cheeky smile and a nod.

“Right, then you go down and tell your mummy and daddy that there’s an extra guest for the tea party and we’ll be down in a minute,” I say as I place her gently on her feet on the floor.

“Don’t be long!” she shouts from the top of the stairs before disappearing.

“Well there goes my opportunity to back out,” (Y/N) laughs nervously, “not that I would, obviously! I just… Bloody hell this is worse than being in front of that photographer.”

“I’ll be by your side the entire time, I promise.”

“Then I have nothing to worry about,” she shrugs as she rises from the bed.

She steps towards me, kisses me quickly, then slips her hand into mine and waits for me to make the first move towards the stairs. Was that it? Were my simple words enough for her to be at ease with this situation? Did I really mean that much to her? I try not to let the giddy feeling go to my head as we descend the stairs side by side, just like the other night, and I can see the family gathered in the living room when we get to the bottom.

“You sure?” I ask quietly as she spots the figures as well.

“Absolutely,” she breathes, squeezing my hand.

We enter the room and everyone stands to greet her, so I let go of her hand but keep her within touching distance as she introduces herself to everyone, and I find myself watching on in awe as she takes on the situation and handles it with a quiet ease. Both Kelly and Owen give me a thumbs up when she’s very much distracted by the little ones and when introductions are over, I reach out my hand to her lower back and guide her to my side where she belongs.

“So who wants to help me make a victoria sponge cake?” I ask, my eyes immediately going to Lily and Jake who start to grin expectantly.

“Me me me!” they both chime at the same time.

“Would you like to join us?” I ask, turning to the woman nestled against my body.

“I think that Owen should help out while us women go and get a drink and some sun in the garden,” Kelly smiles, “what do you think?”

“That sounds perfect,” my love replies.

Everyone begins to shuffle around and out into the kitchen, but I tighten my grip until they’ve dispersed so I can take a moment to check in with her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to hang in the kitchen with us?”

“Why? Is Kelly going to give me a grilling?” she smiles.

“No!” I laugh, “I promised to be by your side, and I won’t be able to if you’re sunning yourself in the garden.”

“Then you’d better bake that cake as quick as you can so you can join us!” she says quietly as she places a hand on my cheek, “it’s okay, we’ll have all the time in the world when you’re back from Australia to be glued to each other’s hips.”

“Promise?” I smirk.

“Promise,” she nods.

“Have I told you how much I lo-”

“Shh,” she interrupts, placing a finger against my lips softly, “don’t say it until you’re back from your trip.”

She leans up and presses a kiss to my lips after removing her finger, then gives me a smile before turning around to join Kelly who was already in the garden with two glasses of wine, and I can’t help but stand there and wonder why she didn’t want me to say it to her; we’ve already admitted how deeply our feelings run, I’ve basically already said it.

“What’s the hold up?” Owen asks, seeing my bemused face.

“Nothing… Coming now,” I reply, forcing a smile.

“You alright, mate?” he asks as I walk towards him.

“Yeah, yeah, so are we baking a cake or not, eh?!”

I try and focus on the cake making but my eyes wander to the window where I see the two women drenched in sunlight outside talking away and laughing together like old friends; it was a sight to see, and Owen noticed them both as well, giving me a nudge and a smile in assurance that things were going well. The only bad thing about this was that it made me want to stay so badly so we could properly explore what this could become, but I had to think of her words from before, and try to look at this as a positive thing; it’ll slow us down a little after us moving at an extremely fast pace so far… Even if I quite like the pace we’re at.

“Cake!” Owen calls out as the kids rush past him carry the paper plates outside, “so, what are you two?” he asks as we walk slowly behind with the cake.

“I, uh, there’s no labels with us,” I shrug.

“But do you want there to be before you jet off?”

“Obviously, yes, but I’m not sure she’d want that. It is a bit soon...”

“Stop saying that. Who said it’s too soon? You ever see the programme married at first sight? If you want to talk ‘too soon’, then that’s a good place to start! Don’t let what you _think_ you should do stop you both from doing what you _want_ to do.”

“I hate it when you talk sense, it’s so bloody annoying,” I laugh.

“Hurry up!” Lily calls out, “mummy and (Y/N) want a piece.”

“Your girlfriend!” Jake giggles uncontrollably, setting Lily off as well.

“You two!” I chuckle.

“Yeah, Gwilym, come on, your girlfriend wants a piece of this incredible cake that Lily and Jake made,” (Y/N) grins from her seat.

“And my girlfriend will get a piece as soon as I get there without dropping it!” I reply with a smirk, “um, hold on a minute… The cake that Lily and Jake made?!”

“Yeah, we made it!” Jake grins smugly.

“Not without a lot of help from daddy and Uncle Gwil,” Owen winks, “I think we deserve a bit of credit as well.”

Lily and Jake look at one another, then back to us as we finally reach them and set the cake down on the garden table.

“Nah,” they say, shaking their heads at the same time and making all the adults laugh.

Owen dishes out slices of cake as I walk over to (Y/N)’s chair and lean down to whisper in her ear, needing to ask her a question that was practically burning the back of my throat.

“Was that for the kid’s benefit, or…?” I ask.

“We’ll talk about it before I leave,” she replies, running her fingers through my hair and giving me a quick kiss.


	15. Chapter 15

The cake goes down a treat, it always does thankfully, and it’s one of the things I’m particularly good at which helps when trying to impress as well, then the rest of the day is spent lounging in the garden surrounded by my favourite people. Kelly, Owen, and the kids leave around 5pm thanks to school the next day and an early bedtime for the little ones, but not before I’m given some more brotherly advice of course, and when it’s back to me and (Y/N) now sharing a lounger in the garden, I realise that soon enough it’ll be time for her to leave as well.

“I should go,” she sighs as her hands run up and down my legs from her cosy position in between my thighs.

She tilts her head back onto my chest as far as it can go so she can see my face and I kiss her forehead as my arms tighten around her stomach. Everything inside my body sinks at those words, not just my heart this time, and I can’t find any words to say in response.

“It’ll be much easier if I get the tube to the station,” she adds.

“I’m driving you and that’s final,” I sigh, “can you spare one more hour?”

She checks her phone to see the time and groans at how quickly the minutes are passing, then slips it back into her pocket and nods.

“One more hour,” she agrees.

“So I have a question...” I trail off as we both relax into the seat.

“Mhmm.”

“Was the ‘girlfriend’ thing just because they said it earlier?”

“I’ll admit that it was a knee jerk reaction to what they said, but then I realised how nice it sounded a few seconds after you said it, and suddenly it felt right,” she replies, “even if it is a little quick.”

“Owen told me something worth remembering earlier, which makes a change,” I chuckle, “he said to not let what we _think_ we should do stop us from what we _want_ to do. No one is actually telling us this is moving too fast, or we’re doing things the wrong way around, it’s only what we think is right based on other people’s relationships.”

“Very true,” she agrees, “and we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others like that. This is us, and we’ve just been going with the flow so far which has worked out pretty well I’d say.”

“So, we’re official then?” I clarify with an excited grin already spreading across my face; thank goodness she can’t see me.

“Looks like it,” she replies, and I can hear her own smile in that soft voice of hers.

“So, just to make sure, if I get asked a question on the press tour that may require an answer that involves you in some way, then I can say ‘my girlfriend’?”

She turns to face me with a light laugh and nods her head as she bites her lower lip gently.

“Yes, yes you can!” she beams.

“I like the sound of that,” I grin back at her.

“This means I’m going to have to check youtube for all of your interviews just so I can hear you say it,” she laughs.

“Well I’d expect you to watch every single one of them anyway,” I wink.

“Guess I have to now, right?”

“Yep, it’s in the terms and conditions of being in a relationship with me.”

“Maybe I should have read over them before I agreed to this...” she teases, sticking her tongue out a little.

“You’re making saying goodbye very, _very_ difficult for me,” I sigh.

Her face falls and just as I go to say something to try and lift her features, she gets up from the lounger and holds her hand out for me to take. Without a word I take it and rise from the seat myself, then let her lead me inside and to the couch where we both fall into a heap and she manages to find her way onto my lap, sliding her hands around my shoulders and leaning into me. My own arms waste no time in holding her close, and we stay in silence as we both realise that words wouldn’t be enough for how we felt right now. Suddenly our song starts to play, and the familiar bassline to another one bites the dust sounds out from her pocket as her phone rings.

“Sorry,” she chuckles, leaning back to get it out and answer it, “hello? ...No it’s alright, I’ll get something on the train… Okay, see you later… I’ll be leaving soon… Yep, will ring you when I get near… Love you, bye!”

“Your mum?” I ask, even though I heard her on the other end of the phone.

“Yeah,” she smiles, “right, where were we?”

“When did you change your ringtone?” I ask as we settle back into our embrace.

“As soon as I was on the train home last time,” she smiles against my t-shirt, “it’s nice to be reminded of you every time someone rings.”

“We really should get a more appropriate song...” I chuckle.

“Or we could just tell people it’s something else and keep this a secret,” she suggests.

“I like that idea...”

We fall into an uncomfortable silence as the two of us think about having to say goodbye soon, and the atmosphere turns heavy as we cling onto one another a little tighter than before. I can hear the clock ticking on the wall, every second that goes by taking away more and more of my happiness, and the repetitive sound soon starts to annoy me as the ticks get louder inside my head.

“Right,” she sighs, lifting her head from my shoulder, “I’ll go get my case.”

“Of course. I’ll, er, grab my keys.”

She walks upstairs slowly on purpose I imagine and when she returns with the case she looks as if she’ll burst into tears right then and there, and I really don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my emotions in check if she does. After she unhooks her coat from the hallway, she dips her head down and leads the way out of the front door, then I take her case and place it in the boot before we slide into the car with heavy sighs.

“I think you should take your black shirt with you,” she says quietly as I start the engine.

“Yeah?”

“For selfish reasons, obviously, just so you don’t forget about me really.”

“As if I would,” I scoff, “you really have no idea how much you’ve impacted my life, do you?”

“I like to imagine it’s close to the amount you’ve had on mine.”

“More.”

I pull away and drive as slowly as I can get away with to the station, but the journey still goes far too quickly for my liking and we end up sitting in the car for a while when we park up on a street near by. She’s first to open her door without saying a word and she walks around to the back of the car to get her case before I even have the opportunity to undo my seatbelt, then I jump out when she begins the walk away from the car; catching up to her within a matter of seconds.

“Wait for me,” I sigh as I place my arm around her shoulders and she leans into me immediately.

“I forgot to ask,” she gasps, moving away from me and standing in my path instead.

“What?” I smile.

“Do you have much planned when you’re back?”

“I actually have a couple of weeks off when I get back home, so no I don’t. What have you got in mind?”

“My parents are off on holiday the Saturday after you return… Would you like to come and stay? You don’t have to if you don’t want to, and I don’t expect you to stay all week, but I could take a couple of days off work and we could do something,” she rambles nervously, even though there’s no need to be because there’s absolutely no way I’m saying no to this and I’m staying for the whole week if she’ll have me.

“Absolutely, I’ll stay for as long as you’ll have me,” I grin.

“Don’t say that, because you’ll be stuck with me all week,” she giggles.

“I was hoping you’d say that anyway,” I wink, then bring her into a much needed hug.

“So almost four weeks apart then a whole week together,” she mumbles against my shirt, “I think I can cope with that.”

“Me too. But I’ll be messaging and calling all the time, so hopefully it won’t feel too much like we’re so far away from one another.”

“Good,” she sniffs, and I know the first tears have fallen, “right, I’ve got to go before I make a fool of myself again by crying on you for the second time.”

“You could never make a fool of yourself,” I whisper as I lean back and gently tilt her head to meet my gaze, “you know how I feel about you. It doesn’t matter if you cry.”

“Have a wonderful time Gwilym,” she sighs with a smile, “and I expect to see a bunch of touristy photos on your instagram feed.”

“Thank you, and you certainly will,” I chuckle, “I love-”

“Not until you’re back,” she says as she wipes away a tear, “but the feeling’s mutual.”

She stands up on her tiptoes to reach my lips and I feel the dampness from her cheeks transfer onto mine as we stand there and kiss as if we had nothing else to do. When it all eventually comes to an end and we reluctantly part, she turns away without another word and walks towards the same entrance as before; that same set of stairs that I kept staring at from my car last time as I willed her to hop back up them.


	16. Chapter 16

Walking back into the house this time is even worse than the last and all I can see is where she’s been; the left over cake that she so neatly wrapped in foil to preserve it, the lounger that lay empty in the garden on which we’d been huddled on only a couple of hours ago, and glass that she’d sipped water from before leaving. Going upstairs was completely out of the question for me right now and I need something to distract me from sinking into a lovesick sadness.

“Ben!” I smile when he answers his phone.

“I’ll be right over mate,” he laughs, “I’ll bring the beer if you’ve got the snacks.”

“I’ve always got the snacks.”

“Great, see you in a bit.”

Ben arrives within the hour with the cans of beer as promised and we settle down on the sofa with the rest of the cake from earlier and stick on the television as some background noise.

“A month without seeing her then?” he asks before taking a bite of cake.

“Yeah, pretty much,” I sigh, looking at the slice on my plate but unable to take bite just yet.

I pick up a can instead and flick it open so I can take a long few gulps and Ben watches me with a knowing stare as he shakes his head from side to side.

“What is it about her?” he asks, “apart from the obvious.”

“The obvious being…?”

“That you two look and act like you’ve known each other forever.”

“I can just be myself around her,” I shrug, “I’m the person who asked her if she was listening to Queen at the tate modern, I’m not an actor, and I love how she makes me feel.”

Ben clutches his hand against his chest as he gives me a genuine look of happiness for me, and I give him a smile before taking another swig of beer. It was all true what I was saying, I was just this person who couldn’t resist talking to her, and if she’d gone through my acting history she sure as hell didn’t show it, but I truly believe she wanted to keep it exactly as it was.

“You’re making me want to find someone again,” Ben says, “sounds dreamy.”

“Too good to be true?” I question.

“But it’s not though, is it? Look at what’s happened this weekend!”

“Hmm,” I hum.

“You excited about travelling Australia?” Ben asks, changing to subject on purpose.

“Yeah, yeah I am. It’s going to be an experience I’ll never forget, I’m sure of it.”

“Good! Try and just go with the flow, you know?”

“I am, I really am. I’m trying not to fuck this up completely before it’s even started, but I’m certainly not looking forward to being unable to touch her for four weeks.”

“Oh yeah?” Ben wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“Not like… Keep your mind out of the gutter, man!”

“So you haven’t…?”

“No! We haven’t. Didn’t stop me from getting a hard on though, did it?”

“Did she see it?” Ben laughs.

“She fucking felt it.”

“Shit, that must have been awkward.”

“Surprisingly it wasn’t, actually.”

“Did you just ignore it?”

“Yeah, it went away eventually.”

“That’d dedication, mate. That’s love.”

“Ha! I don’t think refusing help for your boner equals love, but I know what you mean. The thing is though…”

I’m cut off by my phone ringing and I see her name on my screen when I lift it up, then Ben rolls his eyes playfully before getting up and shaking his empty can to signify getting another one. He points at me and I nod, then I slide my finger across the screen and lift the device to my ear.

“Hello you,” I smile.

“Hey. As promised, here is my ‘I got home safe’ phone call,” she says.

“Good, very good.”

“Have you, um, been up to your bedroom?”

“Not yet...”

“Ah right, okay.”

“Should I?”

“No! I mean, just wait until you need to go up there. Don’t do it because I said this. I shouldn’t have asked, I’ve ruined the surprise now,” she chuckles.

“I’ve forgotten the question already,” I laugh, “but suddenly I’m looking forward to going to bed.”

Ben comes back into the living room just as I say that sentence and gives me a disgusted look which makes me laugh, and then hit him on the leg as he passes me.

“I’ll speak to you soon, Gwilym,” she yawns, “sorry, I’m bloody exhausted!”

“Speak tomorrow,” I confirm, “hope you have a peaceful night’s sleep.”

“You too, bye!”

I find myself staring at the phone screen when I end the call, and Ben snaps me back to reality by shoving a can of beer under my nose with a smile.

“Chin up, mate!” he grins.

“Thanks for coming over, think I would have slipped into some teenage angst if you hadn’t.”

“You haven’t got time to mope, you’ve got a tour of Australia to do!”

“True,” I chuckle, “true.”

Ben stays for another couple of hours before he eventually heads home after cheering me up to a level he’s happy with, and as soon as I shut that front door, I turn on my heels and race up the stairs to my bedroom, taking a deep sigh when I see the sheets that are still creased from where we were this morning. I spot a piece of paper peeking out from underneath the pillow she used and when I retrieve it, there’s a short note on the other side. I sit down on the bed as I prepare to read her words, and my hands are shaking when I read my name at the top.

_Gwilym,_

_I’ve never been very good at articulating how I feel, although after that story I told you yesterday you know that by now!_

I laugh as I recall her words: “My family always tease me about how I’ve rarely said ‘I love you’ since 1997!”

_But I just wanted to let you know how much I’ve enjoyed being in your company the past couple of days, and I would very much like to spend more time with you. You’re really something else; a rare gem that’s somehow crossed my path. Have the best time in Australia, and I hope to see you when you get back. X_

I fold the note and slip it into my suitcase that stands between the wardrobe and the wall, ready to take it with me wherever I go, and I return to the bed where I lay on her side as if it would comfort me somehow, then I wonder if she’s thinking of me as much as I am of her.

-

It’s my first full day in Australia and I’ve never felt jet lag like this before; it’s a complete killer and I both look and feel like utter shit. I’ve had a bit of a change of look since the weekend, and (Y/N) was the first person I sent a photo to. The scruff on my face is now clean shaven and my hair is no longer a shaggy mess, so it’s quite a change but she seemed to like it, which was a huge relief as I don’t want to put her off straight away.

A lot has changed since we saw one another, and although we’re in regular contact, things have been strained the past couple of days; something’s going on and even though she insists she’s fine I know there’s something bubbling beneath the surface. There’s been an influx of people requesting to follow her on social media because someone did a bit of digging and realised both myself and Ben followed her around the same time he uploaded the photo of the three of us. Some people do not understand privacy obviously, so she’s been having to decline follow requests every day so far. I want to be there to reassure her – doing it through the phone just isn’t good enough right now. It feels as though I’m holding a piece of string between my thumb and forefinger, and it’s slowly being tugged away from me as her replies get shorter and the time between them increases.

I understand she’s busy with work and home life right now, but I can’t help that little voice inside my head telling me that she’s losing interest because of all the unwanted attention she’s getting right now. Our perfect little bubble that we’d formed at mine has well and truly popped, and reality is hitting me hard as I could, quite literally, not be further away from her. This is what I was dreading with coming over here, especially with everything being so new and wanting to keep it just so all the time; a completely impossible task, I know.

I feel like I need to do something to show I’m thinking about her, that I’m serious about this, and it’s got to be something that shows how much I want her. I know what I want to do and it’s risky, but it’s my semi-public grand gesture which is what I need right now. That photograph of her laying in my bed with the sun caressing her skin has been a real comfort the past few days, and maybe... Just maybe, if I show the few people who I allow to follow my private instagram account just how amazing this woman is, and how much I miss her, then she’ll know how committed I am.

Either that, or she’ll absolutely hate me for it.

I switch accounts on my phone, making sure it’s the correct one, then find the picture and get to caption part. I feel more at ease that you can’t see her face and it keeps some anonymity on her part, plus the sheets are covering most of her, it’s only a small portion of her thigh on show – okay, enough justifying this, just fucking do it.

_Australia seems lovely, but I’m missing this view…_

I hit the post button and immediately lock my phone for fear of her reaction, but then again the time difference is not on my side right now, and it’ll be hours until she sees it probably. Well it’s done now, and I don’t regret it. At least not yet anyway…


	17. Chapter 17

It’s an agonising four hour wait until I receive a reply, and I can’t even bring myself to look at it because I completely freaked out when I saw her username pop up. It’s 6am over here which means it’s 9pm the previous day back home, so she must have had a busy day if she’s only just seen it, and I really do need to know if I’m a dead man or not for uploading that photo… I open up the app with trembling fingers and press on notifications to see two from her when I scroll down the noticeably shorter list than would be on the other account, and focus straight on the comment.

_Miss you x_

That’s good, right? I don’t have long to think about it too much as a message from her interrupts my spiralling trail of thought.

_-Are you awake? I googled what time it would be over there but didn’t know if you’d be up yet or not… Are you looking forward to your first interview and premiere? X_

I start typing immediately, desperate to keep a conversation going for as long as possible between us, and I smile as I look up in the top left hand corner on whatsapp to see that she’s changed her picture to the one of me at the Tate Modern on the first day we met. It’s the gesture I need to stop worrying so much, at least for now anyway.

_-Yes I am, 5 or 6 will be my usual wake up, just so you know ;) yeah, I’m nervous but excited for what’s to come. How was work? A late one I take it? How’s the instagram thing going? Xx_

_-Noted! You’ll have to let me know when the interviews are on youtube so I can see them :) everything will be fine, you have such a confident air about you when put in front of a camera, I noticed it at the Arts event, you’re a complete natural! Hmm, less said about work, the better… Requests seem to have died down a little thank god, luckily didn’t decline your brother though ha x_

_-You really don’t **have** to watch them, you know! Thank you, that’s really helped actually. How do you know exactly what I need to hear? I’m always on the other end of a phone if you do want to talk about it, please don’t hesitate to vent as much as you want. I think he should have been one of the people you did reject! ;) xx_

_-I **want** to, though. I’ve purposely avoided watching any interviews of yours so these will be my first… No pressure though ;) Ha, it’s a gift, I just know exactly what to say! Thank you, that really means a lot. Well I can always wait a couple of weeks and then delete him :P x_

I don’t even realise that I haven’t stopped smiling since our conversation began until my cheeks begin to ache, and I move my jaw up and down to try and relieve the feeling as I think of an appropriate reply before I have to actually go and do some work.

_-Can we video soon? I miss your face, and it’ll be unfair if you keep seeing mine in interviews yet I don’t see yours! I’ll always be here for you. Fuck it, delete him now ha xx_

_-Of course we can, but I think a break from my face isn’t anything but good! :P good luck today, I’m off to bed for a much needed sleep xx_

_-Your face is beautiful, hush. Sleep well darling xx_

It’s difficult to concentrate as I sit opposite the interviewer and Miranda has to subtly nudge me when I miss my cue to speak.

“Have you taken any tips from the film for your own weddings?” the guy asks, and I can’t even remember his name.

“I actually married soon after we filmed this, so it was too late for me as everything was already planned out!” Miranda laughs.

“Not to be late, mostly,” I chuckle, “and to embrace everything about your other half.”

“Wise words!” the interviewer smiles; I really wish I could remember his bloody name, “and will your partners be joining you this evening for the premiere?”

“Yes, mine will,” Miranda beams, then they both face me as they wait for my answer.

“My girlfriend is back home unfortunately, but when it’s shown in London I’ll be sure to take her,” I grin, mainly at the word ‘girlfriend’ coming from my lips.

Is it childish that I want another question to be asked that would require me to mention ‘my girlfriend’ again? I sit through the rest of the interview with a silly smile on my face until we’re free to go and get ready for the premiere that evening, and I shoot off a text to let her know the first interview will be uploaded soon.

-

The next thing I hear from her is two days later, _two days_ of no communication. That feeling that something is going on has come flooding back to me when her short reply finally pops up on my phone, and I’m only just going into the second week of being away. I reply straight away like last time but the conversation doesn’t flow like it did before, and the message hasn’t even been read. Is this cause for concern? What do I even do? I could ask Ben to check on her, or maybe even Owen, but would that be too invasive? Am I worrying for no reason? Being on the other side of the world is really not in my favour right now.

_\- I can see you enjoyed saying the word girlfriend ;) xx_

I read it over and over again, but no matter how many times my eyes scan over the phone screen, a reply to my message still doesn’t appear. Just as I lock the device and turn it face down on the bed it begins to ring and I hope that her name is going to greet me when I lift it, but instead it’s Owen.

“Morning,” I answer.

“Evening,” he replies.

“How’s everything?”

“Not too bad, the kids are fine, Kelly’s great, can’t complain can I? How is everything over there?”

“Yeah, it’s going well,” I sigh.

“Doesn’t sound like it...”

“It is, it’s just (Y/N). I hadn’t heard from her for a couple days then get a message today and now nothing again. It’s so difficult being this far away so soon after getting together, I’m worrying about ridiculous stuff and feel like I’m completely overthinking everything.”

“That’s natural for a new relationship, right? I was the same with Kelly. If she didn’t get back to me within an hour I thought she’d completely gone off me. She’s worrying just as much as you are, trust me. I actually rang because of (Y/N)...”

“What? Is she okay?” I ask as panic starts to rise inside me.

“Yeah, I just reached out to check in with her. She’s got loads of stuff going on with work at the minute, and-”

“You’ve never been a very good liar Owen. Is she okay?”

“Yes.”

“What did she say? What’s going on? Why the hell is she talking to you but not to me?”

“Like I said, I reached out to check in with her. Kelly’s planning a lunch with her at some point while you’re away. Now listen, she’s alright-”

“Owen!” I snap harshly, “I’m sorry. I just… This is killing me, it’s driving me to distraction.”

“Gwilym, do you trust me?” he asks with a sigh.

“Of course I do.”

“Then calm down. Everything is okay. The only reason she’s talking to me is because she doesn’t want to interrupt your tour, okay? If she drops in and out of contact then please just know that she’s alright.”

“And you’re not going to tell me what’s going on?”

“I can’t, I’m sorry. She’s being very well looked after though, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“Very well looked after? What do you mean? Has she had an accident? What the fuck is happening over there?!”

“Admittedly, that sounded a lot more comforting in my head… She hasn’t had an accident, she’s just being looked after. That’s it, I can’t say any more because Kelly’s giving me a look that says she’s going to kill me if I give anything more away. The bottom line is stop worrying, (Y/N)’s okay, and get on with your tour so you can get back here and we can all celebrate, alright?”

“Does (Y/N) know you were going to tell me this?”

“No, so please don’t set her on me as well!” Owen chuckles.

“Right,” I exhale, “fine. I give in. Just get Kelly to message me after she’s seen (Y/N) please.”

“Will do. (Y/N) will be in touch soon, I promise.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

“I’m only doing this because I love you, you know that right?” Owen asks.

“I know, I really do know that. Thank you, I appreciate it. I’m sure I’ll appreciate it more when I’m back and know the full story though...”

“She just wants you to focus on your work. Everything’s in hand over here, you go and show the world your talent.”

“She cares that much, huh?”

“’Course she bloody does mate! She didn’t even want to tell me, it was flipping hard work convincing her that sharing everything with me would put you at ease.”

“Hmm. Right, I’d better go anyway, need to get suited and booted again,” I sigh.

“Okay, we’ll speak soon.”

I hang up the phone and go into my photos where I find the one of me and her outside the Royal Academy, and I close my eyes as an overwhelming feeling of sadness overcomes me when I wish that I could go back to that moment; that perfect little moment where we were together and she confided in me, and I didn’t feel a million miles away. As I dress my mind begins to fire questions at me: how ill is she? Is this something that can be sorted? When did this happen? Is she in hospital or at home? Will I hear from her soon?


	18. Chapter 18

My mantra soon becomes ‘Owen will tell me if it’s anything serious’ and I try and go about my currently crazy life as calmly as possible as I repeat these words over and over in my head. Sure enough, communication from her has been sporadic, and she’s keeping up the pretence of being okay quite well, even under a slight grilling from me to try and get her to give up her secret. We managed to video call during the week to arrange what is going to happen when I get back home in a few days, and I’m just looking forward to being able to touch her again. Seeing her in real time on my phone screen only heightened my feelings for her, and I’m really going to have to hold myself back when I see her.

As I sit in the back of yet another car on my way to one of the last interviews I have to go to, I find myself scrolling through the very few photos I have of her, and I keep going back to that one from the academy evening. We look like a couple, as silly as that sounds, and I smile as I look down at the black shirt I’m wearing which was last on her, it’s as if she’s here with me. She must be able to read my mind as her name appears on my phone with an incoming call and I answer without missing a beat.

“Morning,” I smile, “no, wait, evening.”

“Morning to you,” she replies, “how are you?”

“Good thanks, how are you doing?”

“Not too bad. What are you up to today then?”

“I’m just on my way to a studio for another interview, then there’s a few hours free and the penultimate premiere this evening. Nothing exciting! How was your day?”

“Nothing exciting? Don’t be silly, that all sounds incredible, it must be like a dream sometimes when you’re being taken to all these places then seeing the crowd’s reaction to something you are a huge part in, don’t try and down play it all, you deserve all the recognition,” she replies, “my day was certainly filled with nothing exciting!”

“It is like a dream sometimes, and thank you,” I laugh nervously, not knowing what else to say to her supportive words, “I’m looking forward to the London showing and taking you along with me. Tell me what happened in your not exciting day then.”

“I’m looking forward to that too,” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice, “well it was just a bit of a _day_ , you know? Would rather have been at work.”

“How come you weren’t at work, is everything okay?” I ask, jumping on the obvious slip up.

“I just had a doctor’s appointment, that’s all, nothing interesting, and certainly nothing worth talking about. I should let you get on with your day anyway-”

“(Y/N), when I said you could confide in me about anything, I meant it. If there’s something going on then you can tell me,” I say softly, not wanting to scare her off.

She sighs heavily.

“We’ll have a lot of time to talk when you get back, I managed to book the week off for when you stay so you’ll probably be sick of me within a couple of days,” she says as cheerily as she can.

“Never,” I laugh lightly, “that’d never happen.”

“Wouldn’t speak too soon Mr. Lee!” she giggles.

“I can’t wait to get back to you, it’s almost torture talking about you so much now in interviews but being unable to kiss or touch you.”

“How do you think I feel seeing you on screen saying all these things and not being able to jump on you as soon as you’re off camera?”

“Jump on me?!” I grin.

“I mean for a cuddle!” she laughs.

“Sure you do… Sure!” I tease, “just like how I meant kiss and touch you in a totally innocent way!”

“Tell me more...”

“I, er… Wait a second...” I mutter as I shift around in the back seat, turning to face the window and cupping my hand up to cover my mouth and the end of the phone to try and hide what I’m going to say from the driver who’s only feet away, “my fingers are aching to feel the softness of your skin again, and I cannot stop thinking about that day we laid in bed together with our naked bodies tangled up like that.”

There’s a silence on the other end of the phone after my hushed admission, and I worry I’ve pushed it too far even though she was the one who wanted me to elaborate.

“You could recite the alphabet in that whispered voice and it would make me want to touch myself,” she finally says after an agonising few seconds.

“It’s _really_ inconvenient that I’m on my way to an interview right now,” I groan as I shuffle around in my seat again, for a different reason this time.

“Just concentrate on the fact it won’t be long until we can spend a whole week together. In bed if you want...”

“Well that’s a definite yes from me. We’ve just pulled up, I’d better go,” I say sadly, “will message you later.”

“I’ll be waiting with baited breath Mr. Lee.”

“You’ve got to stop calling me that...”

“Is it making you hot and bothered?”

“Just a little,” I laugh, “oh, one more thing, you’ll recognise the shirt I’m wearing today.”

“Can’t wait to wear that one again,” she says, and I can hear the mischievous grin spreading across her face.

“Right, I’m reluctantly hanging up now before this gets too much and I can’t go on TV,” I chuckle.

“Love you,” she laughs before ending the call.

Did she mean that? She said she didn’t want me saying that until I was back, so was that a genuine slip of the tongue? I hope she doesn’t regret letting that come out if she didn’t mean it to, because now I _know_ she feels the same as I do.

I walk into the studio with a wide smile plastered across my face and I’m soon settled into a chair next to Miranda and opposite the interviewer as we wait for the count down. A clip of the film is shown before the camera turns to us in preparation to be questioned, and after questions about the short teaser then the locations we shot at, they soon turn a little more personal. It’s natural for the interview to take a personal turn when it’s about such a subject as a wedding, and for once I don’t mind it at all now that I have (Y/N). I don’t have to mutter how I’m still single then receive the obligatory ‘I’m sure that won’t be for much longer! You’ll find someone’ line.

“We’ve heard a lot about your partner over the last few weeks Gwilym, are you looking forward to getting back home after spending so much time apart?” the interviewer asks.

“Very much so. This trip has been truly wonderful and completely life changing, but I have to say I am looking forward to getting back to see her,” I answer truthfully.

“Life changing? How so?”

“It’s put a lot of things in perspective for me actually, made me realise what things in life need to be cherished the most. Family, friends, the unwavering support of your other half. I’m just really lucky to be surrounded by so much love right now, and to have someone to love.”

“That’s so beautiful!” Miranda grins.

Almost as quickly as it had begun, then interview ends and my few hours of spare time begin as I get the car back to the hotel to change into something more casual and explore the nearby city, making sure to take plenty of photos to show everyone back home. I still think about how (Y/N) said she loves me and I can’t help but smile every time her voice sounds in my head; this is what people must be talking about when they say that they’re on cloud nine, because I feel like I’m floating as I walk along the street. Just as I slip my phone back into my pocket it begins to ring, and I answer it without even checking who it is.

“Hello?” I say cheerily.

“Hey,” a groggy (Y/N) replies.

“What are you doing up at this hour? I must be around 3am back there!”

“Half past actually. Are you busy?”

“Not at all, I’m just doing a bit of sight seeing before the premiere this evening. Is everything okay?”

“Must be nice to have a break!” she replies with false cheer, and then I hear beeping in the background.

“What’s that noise? Where are you?”

“I’m just… I… Gwilym I really didn’t want to tell you any of this until you got back, but only because I wanted you to focus on what you’re doing out there, I didn’t mean to lie to you about anything I promise. Owen knows a little of what’s going on because when he got in touch I happened to be where I am again now, and he said he could reassure you if I ever went out of contact for a while,” she rambles, but I don’t want to interrupt her flow and listen carefully to every word, “are you still there?”

“Yes,” I whisper, my fear of what’s about to be said dulling my voice, “I’m still here.”

“Okay. It’s just so close to your tour of Australia ending and I’m so sorry, and I don’t want you to worry, please promise me that you won’t worry. Please don’t let this affect anything that’s going on over there.”

“I can’t promise I won’t worry (Y/N). But I’ll promise I won’t let it affect anything.”

“I’m just in A&E. I was here a couple of weeks ago as well.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” I ask in a hushed tone as my heart sinks in my chest and I try not to cry.

“It was insignificant to what you’re doing. I didn’t want it to interrupt anything when it really wasn’t a big deal, there was no point in saying anything.”

“So what’s changed?”

“Fear.”

“Fear of what?”

“Fear of pushing you away so far that you get fed up with trying to get me to open up and then leave. I’ve already done this to you once, cried about something and completely clammed up about it, and after seeing what you said earlier in that interview I knew I couldn’t do it again. _Please_ don’t be mad, and _please_ don’t worry,” she pleads.

I can hear the tears crack her voice on that last sentence, and mine soon follow as I think about her in a hospital bed with goodness knows what going on.

“I’d never… I’d never leave. (Y/N) I love you, and that means I don’t care how long it takes you to open up about anything, I’ll be here waiting. What’s going on?”

“It’s just a stomach thing, it’s honestly nothing serious I just couldn’t keep it from you any more. I’m so sorry Gwilym. I- Oh, the nurse is coming, I’ve got to go, I’ll message you in a minute if that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

She hangs up and I’m left in a daze at this new information, my cheeks are damp with tears, and I quickly wipe my face with my hands and continue my walk with my phone in a vice like grip as I await further contact. This is a new feeling, and one I don’t like. I can’t just jump in my car and go see her, I’m the other side of the world and suddenly I feel like I can’t breathe.


	19. Chapter 19

The next message I receive from her is so classically her style of brushing everything off and trying to distract me from the real situation going on, but I know we’ll get around to the current events soon enough, so I reply to the screenshot of her instagram notifications which show a sudden influx of people requesting to follow her as casually as I can.

- _Are your ears burning? I think people are talking about you again! I’ll have a little search, see what’s going on xx_

_-Should I get the nurse to check the temperature of my ears? X_

_-_ _I think you should, just in case. What did she say before? Is everything okay? Xx_

I quickly bring up instagram after finding a bench to take a seat on and do a quick search of my name, which I generally avoid at all costs, but see that a fan account has posted three photos from the academy night all with (Y/N) in them, including the one that Ben posted. I avoid reading the caption and the comments and get straight off of there as quickly as I can.

- _Just a fan account posting the photos of us from the RA night_ _xx_

_-That explains it then!_ _I’ve just followed your public account, it popped up in my suggestions… Probably because I keep going on your other one to see your face. It’s all good, the nurse was just taking some blood and checking everything x_

I hold my breath for a short while as I imagine her scrolling through to see all of the Bo Rhap related photographs, not that I want to purposely keep it from her, but I just don’t want this image of me that she already has being taken over by this film that became bigger than any of us could imagine. It’s still a struggle to acclimatise to this new found fame and the overwhelming fan reaction I receive on every little thing I post on my public social media, but I’m thankful that I have (Y/N) to distract me from the quiet moments where I’m left alone with my thoughts and the emptiness the dying buzz has created.

- _You keep checking my account to see me? Well at least I’m not the only one who does that then ;) and is everything going as it should? Do you know when you’ll be let home? Xxx_

_-Stop, you charmer. Are you free to video quickly? Xxx_

I press the video button at the top of the chat straight away and she answers just as quickly, her hair falling into those natural waves that formed when she didn’t get the chance to straighten it, her eyes dark underneath from lack of sleep, and although she’s aiming the camera up as far as she can, there’s machines in the background and a glimpse of the hospital gown she’s wearing in the far corners of the screen.

“Don’t look like that,” she sighs, “I’m okay.”

I guess my face isn’t looking as neutral as I thought it was…

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting… It’s just awful seeing you like this and being so far away. That’s really selfish of me to say, I’m so sorry.”

“Not it’s not,” she smiles, “it’s awful seeing you so sad and being so far away.”

“So what’s going on with your stomach? Is it serious?”

“Not serious at all, and that’s why I didn’t want to worry you about it. It’s just an ulcer, it’s being sorted and I should be as right as rain by the time you get back!” she says cheerily.

“A stomach ulcer sounds pretty serious to me!” I reply as my eyebrows shoot up my forehead in surprise.

“It’s not really, I’m just in constant pain and vomit a bit more than I would like to,” she laughs, completely contradicting her severe surroundings to try and put me at ease.

“I want to look after you so badly,” I sigh without even realising what I’m saying; it’s just instinct.

“Trust me, you really don’t,” she chuckles as she lifts one of those grey cardboard like sick bowls that were hospital standard, “luckily this one’s empty at the moment. Now, tell me what you’re doing, are you sitting somewhere nice? That looks like a lovely bench, I wish I were next to you.”

“I am… I’m not sure where I am actually, but I’m a couple of streets away from the hotel by this river, let me show you,” I press the button to flip it to the external camera instead of front facing and move my phone slowly from side to side to show her my surroundings before putting the camera back on myself, “what do you think?”

“I think I should sneak out of A&E, hop on a plane, and occupy that space next to you,” she sighs, “looks wonderful.”

“Well we could go away for a couple of days on your week off if you’d like,” I suggest with a smile, already thinking of snuggling in a bed with her in the middle of nowhere inside a quaint little cottage.

“That sounds dreamy, especially with you, but I don’t know if I’ve got the money for it at the moment. Maybe in a few months if your schedule allows?”

“Well don’t worry about that, I can cover it!”

“No! No no no, as much as that is a lovely gesture and I greatly appreciate it, I wouldn’t want you paying for it all and then having to wait for me to pay you back my half. We’ll do it later in the year when the weather’s colder and we have an actual excuse to get cosy underneath a blanket in front of a fire,” she grins.

“As long as it’s in a cottage in the middle of nowhere,” I wink.

“It’s like you just read my mind Mr. Lee!”

“What did I say about calling me that?!” I laugh.

“Sorry!” she giggles, bringing her hand up to her mouth to hide her smile.

My own grin soon fades when I see the cannula stuck in the back of her hand and when she notices my sudden change in expression she’s quick to drop her hand down out of sight.

“Anyway, as you can see, I’m absolutely fine and I’ve already thanked your brother for keeping my secret even though he almost let it slip. I’m going to lunch with Kelly just before you get back actually, and to tell you the truth I’m absolutely terrified!” she grimaces.

“Don’t be! You two got on so well when they all came over, it’ll be fine.”

“Is it a little weird that I’m meeting a member of your family without you?” she asks.

“Not at all,” I reply as I shake my head, “you’re part of it now anyway, so why should it be weird?”

“I am?”

“You are.”

“I like the sound of that. Speaking of which, my mum’s here with, hopefully, a decent cup of tea. Do you, uh… Want to see her?” she asks hesitantly.

“If she wants to see me...” I reply nervously.

“Mum,” she says, looking over the top of the phone, “I’m just talking to Gwilym, do you want to say hi?”

“Oh!” her mum says off camera, “would that be alright? I’ve seen so many pictures of him-”

“Mum!” (Y/N) laughs, her face glowing with embarrassment, even though I’ve definitely done the same with my parents and sent them photos of her, “just come and wave.”

(Y/N) moves the phone back a little and her mum’s face comes into view, then she gives a little wave.

“Hello Gwilym, nice to see you!” she smiles, and I can see where (Y/N)’s kind smile comes from.

“Hello Mrs. (Y/L/N), very nice to sort of meet you! We’ll have to do this properly when I return,” I grin as I wave back.

“Yes we will, we’ll take you out to dinner!” she grins.

“That would be lovely, thank you!”

“Oh, someone’s coming over,” (Y/N) interrupts as her mum slides out of shot, “sorry, let me know when you’re heading to the premiere later. Love you.”

“Will do, love you a heck of a lot.”

Her smile grows at my words before she ends the video call and I’m left looking straight at myself in my screen, already missing her face after only a matter of seconds, and I lower my hand down until I’m looking at the river in front of me. The yearning to be with her has increased tenfold and my protective instinct has well and truly kicked in now as all that’s running through my mind is how I’m going to be making sure she rests on her week off, making her breakfast in bed, and holding her close throughout the night.

I slowly make my way back to the hotel to get ready for the evening events, swapping out the shirt the stylist gave me for the black one just so I can feel close to (Y/N) in some odd way. When we’re seated in yet another cinema waiting for the film to start, I think about how special it’ll be to share this with her at the London showing and I close my eyes for a few seconds as I imagine her next to me now, almost feeling her hand on my leg as my mind imagines it. I quickly slip my phone out of my pocket as the lights dim and shoot a text off to her.

_-Premiere’s about to start. Sorry I didn’t message earlier, I was running late! Truly can’t wait to see you now. It’s all I’m thinking about. How are you feeling? Love you xxx_

When I feel the vibration in my pocket half way through the film my fingers begin to twitch but I know it would be extremely bad manners to get the device out and read a text, so I sit in utter suspense for the next 45 minutes awaiting to read her reply.

- _Don’t worry about it :) I’m feeling better thanks. How was the premiere? Only one more to go then you’ll be home! And then I get you for a whole week, how lucky am I?! Lots of love xxx_

_-Very relieved to hear that. It was good thank you, had a very positive reaction from this audience so we’re all very happy! You make it sound as if home and you are different things when they certainly aren’t. Home is being with you in my opinion xxx_

_-That’s brilliant news! I’m so proud of you. I always wondered what that meant when I heard people in films say similar things, but now I don’t need to wonder because I feel it with you xxx_

The grin that’s now spread its way across my face is making my cheeks ache, but looking down at her words I can’t help myself. How did I get so lucky? What have I done to deserve this kind of intense love? We’ve almost survived our month apart, only a few days left now, and it feels as though the two of us together can overcome anything right now. When I see her again I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to let go.


	20. Chapter 20

One meeting. One three hour meeting until I can jump in my car and driver to her. I’m struggling with the jet lag after getting back only 48 hours ago but the thought of getting to (Y/N) is more enough to keep me awake at the moment, although I can’t promise I won’t crash out when I’m safely in her arms. Goosebumps cover my body as I imagine the feel of her breath on my skin again, and I shiver a little as I walk into the room. I go through a mental checklist as we await the other party, thinking about all the items that are in my case and holdall in the boot of my car; toothbrush, toothpaste, underwear, cologne…

“So sorry for the delay,” a man says as he strides in through the door.

My agent and I both smile and tell him not to worry about it as we stand to greet him, then we all take a seat and the meeting begins.

Voices drown out into the background a little as I wonder where I put (Y/N)’s present from Australia, then they suddenly get louder as I remember it’s in my glove compartment so it can be the first thing I grab before getting my luggage out of the back. Then I start to think about Kelly’s text after they met for lunch the other day…

_-Had to take the kids along to lunch as well and they **love** her. I’ve got to say Gwil, you’ve picked a good one here, she’s a keeper for sure. She even offered to make Lily and I matching dresses **for free**. I did insist on paying but she wasn’t having any of it. Big heart and a kind soul, that one. Try not to fuck it up ;) xx_

“Still jet lagged, Gwilym?” someone asks, and I panic a bit as I scan the faces in front of me.

“Oh, goodness, I’m so sorry!” I apologise, “it’s… yeah, it’s been rough!”

“Not a problem at all, we can email you the details of everything anyway, this was just a general chat to gauge your interest in the project.”

“I’m _very_ interested,” I nod.

“Great to hear! Okay, we may as well wrap it up here then, you look like you need your bed. In the nicest way possible.”

Do I look like shit? Also, I need her bed, not mine.

“Thanks,” I chuckle, “and I won’t take it personally!”

The three hour meeting just turned into an hour one and as I walk out to my car, sliding my phone out of my pocket as I go, I resist the urge to let her know I’m already on my way so I can gain the element of surprise. Even tapping her address in to get my route is exciting, and I can almost smell a faint waft of her scent as I imagine what it’ll be like holding her again.

Thankfully the drive doesn’t take too long in the midday lull, even getting out of London was surprisingly smooth, and it doesn’t take too much over an hour until I’m sat outside her house, my car parked across her drive where her own car sits, and the edge of the garage that blocks my view of her front door. I wonder if she’s looking out of her window as I gather up my phone, take my keys out of the ignition, and open up the glove box to retrieve her gift, then I’m met by my answer as I go to open my door and see her standing at the bottom of the path with both hands covering her mouth in shock – I think.

My heart races as I walk down the slight slope towards her and I suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to cry as she gets to within touching distance, then she takes one step towards me as I pause to try and stop the tears and then it happens, we’re gripping on to one another so tightly that I’m not sure either one of us has taken a breath yet.

“It’s you,” she exhales eventually, her words muffled by my shirt.

“Who else were you expecting?” I laugh, holding back a sob by biting my lip as I inhale afterwards.

“Stop it,” she giggles as her own quiet tears fall and cause my shirt to stick to my chest, “come in.”

She leans back to look at my face and a disbelieving smile appears on her lips, then she takes both my hands and walks backwards as she leads me inside the house. We’re both grinning like lovestruck fools, and rightly so, then when she turns us around so she can shut the door I can’t help but squat down, wrap my arms around her waist, and lift her up to switch places again.

“Gwilym!” she squeals as her fingers interlink at the nape of my neck.

I lower her slowly so that her top rolls up as she slides down my torso then as soon as her toes touch the ground we begin a hungry kiss full of clashing teeth, slippery tongues, and sheer desperation to be as close as possible after such a long time apart. We’ve barely made it past the front door and already our hands are deep in exploration on one another’s bodies as if checking that nothing has changed in the past few weeks; her hands are underneath my shirt, her fingertips running up and down my back as she lets out soft and short moans while my hands have slid down the back of her skirt and are kneading her backside to a rhythm that makes her hips push against me in such an intoxicating way.

If this is even just a tiny taste of what it will be like making love to her then I honestly don’t know if I’ll last long enough to make her orgasm.

“Gwil,” she pants, removing one of her hands and placing it on top of my shirt to gently tell me to stop, “we can’t do this here.”

“Why not?” I ask with a smirk, sucking on her neck so I can inhale that familiar scent.

“Because my bed’s much more comfortable than the hallway floor,” she replies with an equally devilish smile, “but first, I have something for you.”

She does? Wait, where did my phone, keys and gift go? I pat my pockets to feel them all there and frown in confusion as the memory of putting them away has completely disappeared.

“Funnily enough I have something for you as well,” I smile, reaching to retrieve it.

“Wait,” she says as she places a hand over mine, “me first.”

I follow her into the kitchen and she gestures for me to take a seat at the table, then she picks up a book from the chair opposite mine and passes it to me with a shy smile.

“It’s nothing really, probably a bit silly, I don’t know if you’ll even like it-”

“I love it,” I chuckle as I take the book and start to flick through the images of various skateboard decks and the evolution of the style of art used to adorn them, “it’s perfect.”

“Are you sure you’re not just saying that?” she winces, “you can tell me if you don’t like it.”

“I love it,” I repeat as I put the book down and stand so I can hug her, “it mixes my love of art and the fact that I used to skateboard. I’m surprised you remembered that!”

“I remember everything you’ve said to me. Well, mostly,” she grins as she looks up at my face.

“Not it’s my turn,” I smile, letting go of her so I can pull the small box out of my pocket, “these are for you.”

She takes the velvet box from my palm, her eyes darting from the gift to me as she opens it tentatively, then she gasps when the lid is finally fully open to reveal a silver necklace and matching earrings that have her favourite… I hope… Flower hanging from them.

“I can’t… I can’t accept _this_! It’s absolutely stunning, but it’s far too much,” she breathes as she picks up the small pendant and studies it carefully, “you remembered my favourite flower,” she grins.

“Of course you can accept it, and of course I remembered,” I smile, “I thought an actual bunch of flowers would be a little predictable, so this was perfect.”

“They’re beautiful, thank you so much Gwilym,” she sighs, closing the box and meeting my gaze just as I being to yawn, “how much sleep have you had since getting back?”

“A few hours,” I shrug.

“The lengths you go to just to get me in bed. There’s really no need, you know. All you have to do is ask,” she winks.

“But this way is much more fun! I’ll go and get my cases first.”

“Leave that to me,” she offers, “I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping the next few nights, and you can get some rest.”

“Are you sure you can lift things with your ulcer?”

“Yes I can,” she chuckles, rolling her eyes playfully.

“I’d prefer it if you just stayed with me. You need rest as well, you’re still not completely back to normal.”

“Stop worrying! I’m fine,” she smiles as we ascend the stairs and she moves a black curtain out of the way as we enter her room, “and this is my little haven.”

I walk in and study my new surroundings; you can tell that someone that works with their hands resides here, there’s art everywhere, some of which I think is hers, then the little trinkets on the windowsill, and a small set of mesh drawers that look to contain piles and piles of fabric. My eyes eventually land on the bed and then make their way up to the large black and white photograph of Queen from the 70s that hangs above her headboard, and I stand there a little taken aback by it.

“Bit intimidating isn’t it?” she laughs as she notices my reaction, “I’ve never had anyone up here since I put that up a few years ago.”

“It’s a lovely picture,” I smile, avoiding looking at Brian.

“Well, make yourself comfortable anyway, do you want a drink? Something to eat?”

“I’ll take a tea if one’s going...”

“Of course! Be right back. You can leave your clothes on the chair… If you want, I mean.”

A blush creeps up her cheeks at her assumption that I’d be sleeping in my boxers, and I chuckle as she closes the blind and turns on the bedside light as I begin to take my shirt off.

“And my underwear?” I tease.

“Yep,” she squeaks, then rushes out of the door and downstairs to make the tea.

Truth is, all I want to do for the rest of the day is be next to her in bed making sure she’s okay. Seeing her in hospital like that affected me more than I thought it would and even though she’s explained that the antibiotics and acid preventatives will sort everything, I still can’t help but worry about her. She may not want to be looked after, but I’m damn sure going to try this week, and when she enters the room again with the teas, places them down either side of the bed and begins to undress, I rest a hand over my heart while I watch the love of my life reveal herself to me.


	21. Chapter 21

She shuffles under the duvet and drifts over to me immediately as I lift my arm out of the way, ready to wrap around her and keep her close to me. We lay in silence for a few minutes until I notice her flinch in pain, then her arm moves from my chest to her stomach within a couple of seconds to try and help the uncomfortable feeling, and I look at her face to see her eyes squeezed shut as she breathes through it.

“Are you alright?” I ask, placing my hand on top of hers over her stomach.

I stare at our hands that are resting on her belly and for the briefest of moments I imagine us starting a family. These thoughts never scare me when I think of them with her.

“Yeah, just a twinge,” she sighs through gritted teeth, “it’ll pass in a bit.”

“Are you sure?” I worry as she brings her knees up a bit more.

“It’s fine, it just happens sometimes,” she explains, then forces her eyes open to look at me, “I’m okay.”

I frown as I squeeze her hand and feel utterly useless when she closes her eyes once again as the pain continues. Is this what’s been going on the whole time I was away? Is this just a snippet of what she’s been struggling with? My heart sinks in my chest and I hold on to her hand until her body relaxes and the episode has finally passed, then the silence resumes as she moves into her original position against my side.

“Gwilym, I’m sorry,” she whispers a couple of minutes later.

“For what?” I ask as I tilt my head down to look at what’s visible of her face.

“For not being honest with you when you were away, and telling your brother instead of you. It just happened. I was talking to him while I was in hospital, he heard the beeping and then a bloody alarm went off because there was an emergency, and I couldn’t just hang up on him, then he said he could help reassure you and-”

“Hey, it’s okay,” I interrupt as I feel her body tense more with each word, “to be completely honest with you, I’m glad you did.”

“Really?”

“Yep. The worry of that last week when I knew the full story was much worse than the mix of confusion and concern from the ambiguous phone call from my brother. But I completely understand why you did it, so don’t be sorry.”

“Are you sure you’re not just saying that?”

“I’m sure,” I reply before kissing the top of her head, “it, uh, it really scared me seeing you in hospital. A lot more than I expected it to.”

She tilts her head up to meet my gaze and I give her a reassuring smile.

“Sorry about that, it was a rare moment that we were both wide awake to actually talk properly.”

“Stop apologising for everything! I’m just saying because it made me realise how deeply my feelings for you run. All I’ve been thinking about it getting to you and taking care of you.”

She leans up and kisses my chin before resting her head on my chest and letting out a deep sigh as her hand glides up my torso and comes to a gentle stop in the middle of the scattering of hair that covers the top half.

“I love you,” she says so quietly I almost miss it.

A smile spreads across my lips and I look up at her ceiling as I silently celebrate such a milestone, then I calm myself, sink lower into the bed, and hold her a little tighter.

“I love you too.”

Our breathing slows in sync as we can finally relax in one another’s company, and I continue to look around her room subtly, noting what DVDs she has, what books lay in a pile on the floor, and then the drawings of clothes she’s either making or wants to make. It's almost as I imagined it; messy yet organised, so she knows exactly where everything is even though to an outsider it would be a daunting task to find anything.

“Gwil?” she whispers, “are you still awake?”

“Yeah,” I sigh, completely unable to sleep through the excitement of being so close to her again.

“I need to tell you something. I promised myself I’d tell you everything as soon as we started using the word ‘love’...”

“Ah, so is that why you told me not to say it before I got back?”

“Yes,” she half laughs, “I ruined that one didn’t I?”

“You didn’t ruin anything. I was positively aching to say it to you! Anyway, what do you need to tell me darling?” I ask as I think back to that day at mine when she sat on my bed and cried.

“It’s, er… It’s about that time at your house when I had a little moment and started crying. Also what I told you after the RA show...”

I move to sit up ready for the imminent conversation but she stops me by cuddling up closer and angling her head so far down that I can’t see her face at all.

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you this while I’m looking at you. I can’t bear to see your face when you know the full story.”

“There is _nothing_ that-”

“Shh,” she says softly, “please don’t say that because you have no idea what I’m going to say next.”

I can feel her heart rate quicken as she tries to find the words to tell me what she needs to, and I take slow breaths as I try not to disturb her while I wait for her to begin. The hand that’s resting on her side gives her a reassuring squeeze and I place my other one on top of hers on my chest, stroking my thumb gently along her fingers. I hear her inhale and then she begins to speak, telling me every detail of the set of circumstances that happened to cause her to reject any idea that someone could love her.

“I was scared of myself for so many years afterwards,” she admits, “I didn’t want to be me any more, and although I’ve come to accept certain aspects, occasionally even forgetting about it momentarily, I still don’t believe anyone can accept me as I am.”

She lets out one more breath, a deep exhale that sounds as if she’s been holding this inside her since everything happened, and then she moves away from me to sit up and quickly picks her t-shirt up to cover herself as she slips out of the bed, still not facing me.

“I’ll leave you for a while to think it over, I won’t blame you if you choose to go home so don’t worry about that. Just know that I honestly have had the best time of my life with you over the last couple of months, and I’ll never forget it.”

I watch as she places her hands down either side of her body to lift herself up and walk out, and I instinctively move so I can reach over and stop her by grabbing the hand nearest to me.

“I have nothing to think about. Do you really think I’d leave over something like that? After everything that’s happened since we met, did you honestly think that I’d suddenly stop loving you because of what you’ve told me? If anything, it makes me love you _more._ I’m so grateful that you chose me as the first person outside of your close circle to confide in, and I know this must mean such a lot to you. (Y/N), please look at me...”

She turns slowly, allowing her hair to fall in front of her face as some kind of barrier that she wants to maintain, but I bring my free hand up to tuck it behind her ear and take away the shield that is now completely unnecessary.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper softly as my hand lingers on her cheek, “sorry, but like I said before, you’re stuck with me.”

“Well that’s not a bad thing,” she mutters, giving a hint of a smile, “but what if-”

“Nope, no what ifs. You’ve explained everything so precisely that there is no doubt in my mind about anything. It tells me all that I’ve been wondering about since you told me about how you feel about Freddie up there,” I say, nodding my head towards the large photo of Queen, “and I want to be the one to show you that someone can love you no matter what.”

She throws her arms around my shoulders and lands on top of me as we drop down onto the bed together, then I grab the end of the duvet and bring it up to cover us both as we stay perfectly still in a tight embrace. She’s now completely bared her soul to to me and I couldn’t feel any more thankful that it’s me she’s chosen to do this with. This is love, this is the kind of relationship I’ve been dreaming about for years. If I didn’t want to scare her off, I’d probably ask her to marry me right now.

“Now you’d better get some sleep,” she mumbles against my chest, “you must be exhausted.”

“And what about you? After telling me all that and bringing up those emotions you must be tired as well.”

“I’m okay, I think I might just go downstairs and watch some telly for a bit,” she smiles weakly as she sits up, “I didn’t quite expect to reveal so much so soon, need to take a moment to myself if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” I nod, “of course it is. But if you feel like joining me again, please do.”

“I will,” she says as she strokes her hand down my torso, “I really love you Mr. Lee.”

I cock an eyebrow at her use of Mr. Lee again; for some reason it really gets me going when she says it, and she lets out a single chuckle.

“Force of habit. I promise I don’t do it on purpose.”

“You can if you want,” I wink.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she smirks as she leans in and presses her lips to mine with determination.

My hand cups the back of her head as I hold her against me, never wanting this kiss to end, and her own hand runs up my neck and into my hair right before she pulls away.

“Love you too (Y/N),” I breathe once the kiss ends.

She pulls on her jeans and heads out of the room, leaving me to let out a sob into the palms of my hands as they cover my mouth. I never could have imagined that that was what she had to tell me and there’s such a mix of emotions swirling around in my body right now; anger at what she had to go through, sadness at how she felt about about herself for years after, and pride at how far she’d come since then; actually being able to tell someone outside of her comfort zone. Everything has fallen into place though, it makes sense that we met at exactly that time. She needed to be shown that someone can love her exactly as she is, and I needed someone to bring a light into my life and guide me out of the darkness. I tilt my head further back into the pillow after I rest my hands down on the bed and look at that photograph one more time as I wonder if there really was some power in the universe that had made this happen.


	22. Chapter 22

I spend the next 24 hours slipping in and out of naps, only waking every now and again when (Y/N) brings me something to drink or eat, and by the next morning when I wake up to her laying next to me, I’m feeling completely rejuvenated. She’s still fast asleep so I take my time looking around her room as I sit up carefully next to her, and the first thing I spot is the Bohemian Rhapsody DVD in the case next to the television, the familiar yellow and purple hues sticking out from the fairly monochrome designs of the others surrounding it.

My eyes move down to her as she turns over with a deep sigh, automatically reaching out for me and letting her hand fall around my waist, right where the band of my boxers lie, and when she opens her eyes to see me, she’s met with the pattern of the fabric instead of my chest which is what she was expecting.

“What are you doing up there?” she asks with a yawn as she pushes herself up to face me.

“Just taking in my new surroundings,” I smile as she smooths her hair down and rubs the sleep from her eyes.

“What do you think?” she questions as she sits up next to me to rest her head on my shoulder and a hand dangerously low on my stomach.

“I… I sort of can’t think at all with your hand where it is,” I admit with a slight gulp.

She dips her fingertips into my waistband and kisses my neck at the same time.

“Is this better?” she whispers.

“Uh huh,” I nod.

Her hand moves further in, her fingers sliding over the coarse hair that surrounds my ever growing erection, and she stops just short of where I really need her to be.

“What about now?”

“Almost perfect,” I groan.

I can feel her smile against the skin of my shoulder as she works her lips around it, and I go against everything that my body is currently desperate for to take a hold of her hand through my underwear and stop her from moving any further as I think back to what was said yesterday.

“You don’t _have_ to do this. I can wait,” I say softly as she lifts her head in confusion.

“I want to, I really want to touch you, to feel all of you,” she sighs, “if you want me of course...”

“ _If I want you_?!” I laugh in disbelief, “I have literally been dreaming of the day I get to touch you like that, to know what it feels like to be inside you, to taste you, smell you, get completely and utterly lost in you, and to see your face as I pleasure you.”

She takes a sharp inhale at my words then leans in slowly until I practically head butt her as I meet her eagerly in the middle of the gap between us, and we both grin into the kiss as I let go of her hand and she grasps my length firmly yet gently. Her hand moves up to the tip and my whole body twitches as she runs her thumb around it, her touch so delicate and loving that I worry I won’t hold out for long. I lift the waistband of my boxers to carefully pull down over her hand without disturbing her and I manage to wriggle them down to my knees before my hands turn their attention to her body.

One hand caresses her face gently as we continue to kiss while the other runs slowly along the outline of her body as she turns it in to face my side, and as my fingers slide over her hip I wonder when the hell she managed to take off her underwear without me noticing; although under the circumstances who can blame me? My hand runs back up from her knee, this time stopping in between her legs as she opens them up willingly for my fingers to explore, but as her hand tightens around my sensitive length which causes me to moan into her mouth, I know I need to make this about her before things end prematurely.

I reluctantly bring my hand away from her core to place it over the hand she has wrapped around me, then gently pull it away before guiding her slowly until she’s on her back on her side of the bed, and I hover over her after breaking the kiss, taking in everything from her now plump and swollen lips down to her thighs that are rubbing together in anticipation between my legs.

“What’s wrong?” she asks as my gaze lifts back up to her face.

“Nothing,” I smile, “I’m just enjoying the moment.”

She grins as her cheeks flush a deep shade of crimson and I kick off the boxers that are still attached to one of my ankles before I slide a hand down the front of her t-shirt and begin to lift the hem until she takes over and throws it to the end of the bed. Finally we’re baring ourselves to one another completely and she’s laying beneath me with expectant eyes, her hands travelling up and down my arms that are supporting my weight either side of her; her gaze hovering on the stiff length that’s resting teasingly on her thigh.

“Shit,” I sigh quietly as I remember the one condom in my wallet that sits on the chair out of reach of the bed.

“What is it?”

“I need to get off the bed to get the condom,” I pout.

“Well I can assure you I won’t be going anywhere while you fetch it,” she giggles.

“You’d better bloody not,” I wink as I lean down and press a needy kiss to her lips before rolling off the bed and fumbling with my trousers as I try and get my wallet out.

“So has that been in there a while, or did you pop it in especially for this week… Just in case?” she teases with a sly grin as she turns on her side to eye me while I finally get it free.

“I may have put it in just in case… On the off chance something might happen… If the stars aligned sort of thing,” I shrug.

“I think we’ll need more than one though...” she says before running her tongue over her bottom lip slowly.

“Lucky the rest of the box is in the car then, isn’t it?”

She covers her mouth as she laughs, then fans her face with her hands as she falls back onto the bed with a ‘phew!’, and I quickly make my way back onto the bed with everything in place for what’s to come.

“Hello, you,” she smiles as her hands stroke my face softly when I settle in between her now open legs.

“Hi,” I grin, “I love you.”

I nudge my nose against hers before she can reply, then my lips land on hers so very gently while one of her hands reaches in between out bodies to rest my tip at her entrance, making sure we’re perfectly in line. I use the foot of the bed to push myself forwards slowly and she tilts her head back with a sharp inhale while I fill the empty space inside, my lips falling down her chin and eventually coming to a peaceful stop on her neck where I suck and nip at her skin; earning me the pleasure of hearing the sweetest moans I’ve ever heard escape from her mouth. I lift one hand at a time as I stop when I can push no further and interlink them with her fingers, then I rest them either side of her head at the top of the pillow.

Her hips lift into mine ever so slightly and I take it as my cue to move, then feel her legs lift and wrap around my body until her heels are resting on my backside while I glide smoothly in and out of her beautiful body that lies so willingly underneath mine. I have to stop my thoughts from going off track as I think about the dreams I’ve had of this happening; waking up and having to sort myself out after the realistic visions that made me sweat during the night. Here we are now though, our bodies becoming one, our breathing quickening in time to the rhythm I’m setting, the glistening sheen of sweat beginning to shine on both of us, and the quiet yet meaningful moans that emanate from her sweet lips encouraging me to do the same.

I look down to where we meet, where she’s wrapping love around me as I thrust inside her, and as I build pace the sound of skin against skin fills my ears while I watch the rippling effect of my movements glide so neatly across the skin of her thighs, then I feel it; the first signs of her building to climax, her walls tightening for a split second, her legs shaking briefly around my waist. I lift my head just in time to see her looking down at me and we smile at one another before I move my face over to her left breast, taking her nipple in my mouth while I keep eye contact, and I can feel her arms wanting to move as I continue to hold them down.

“Gwil… Gwilym,” she pants as she lifts her torso off of the bed.

“Mhmm?” I reply, humming around her soft skin.

“Love you too,” she exhales quickly as her moans interrupt.

I lift myself up a little, careful not to put too much pressure on her arms, and I know my plan to help her gain momentum towards her orgasm is working as she drops her legs down, the new angle now letting me brush against her sweet spot with every move I make. My grip loosens on her hands as I aim to move them further down the bed but she tightens her hold to prevent me from moving.

“Don’t let go, please don’t let go,” she pants.

“I won’t,” I reassure.

I try to hold off for as long as possible but my senses are overloaded from this first time with her as it is, and there’s no way to stop the inevitable rush of my own orgasm when it begins, so I’m soon filling the sheath as I move erratically inside her. I promised not to let go so I quickly pull out and guide our interlinked hands down until they’re now resting either side of her hips, and I move hastily as I shuffle back as far as the bed will allow so I can use my tongue on the usually hidden spot that so desperately needed my attention. A louder, longer moan erupts from her mouth and as I swirl my tongue around and over the small bump I feel her fingers digging into the backs of my hands until eventually she lifts her hips off of the bed; her body soon crashing back down as I feel the reverberations of the periodic tightening going on deep inside her where I had been only moments ago. I wait until I know she’s completely spent, then lift my face from between her thighs to see her sweat beaded body moving up and down with deep, heavy breaths, and our hands finally let go of one another so I can move to be beside her where I belong.

“Come here,” I exhale as I wrap my arms around her and help her drape across my chest.

“Gwilym,” she whispers shyly as she settles into my torso.

“Yes my love?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For showing me that...” her breath hitches a little as she pauses, “for showing me I can be loved for who I am.”

“I’ll show you every single day, I _promise_ ,” I reply defiantly as I tighten my hold around her and press a kiss against her head, “every day.”


	23. Chapter 23

We take a few minutes to regain composure and enjoy the moment together, then she’s first to move off of the bed with a sigh and pick up her t-shirt to make her way to the bathroom. I stay where I am as I hear the shower turn on and she soon pops her head in the doorway with a smile as she shakes a towel at me.

“Would you like to join?” she asks.

A wide grin spreads across my face in answer to her completely unnecessary question that had such a predictable response, and she quickly disappears as I get up from the bed to follow her. I stop when I enter the bathroom to see her beneath the stream of water as it cascades down her body, the droplets running over the curve of her bum and showing a path for my fingers to take as I step in behind her. She shivers slightly at my cold touch but reaches around for my hands and pulls them to her front as she steps forward to allow me to reach the water, and I lean forward so I can press a line of kisses from one shoulder to the other on her damp skin. I reach further forward to the shampoo as I peek over her shoulder to see where it is, then squirt a small amount into my hand and begin to massage it into her hair, and once I’m finished she repeats the action on my own head. The moment is tender, caring, and full of a feeling so much deeper than love that I can’t help but smile throughout the whole experience.

“You have such a beautiful smile,” she chuckles as she rinses the last of the suds from my hair.

An obnoxiously loud knock at the door prevents me from replying even though my mouth is already open and we both jump at the sudden interruption of our moment.

“Fucking postman,” (Y/N) sighs, “my parents must have ordered something before they went away.”

“I’ll go, you finish up here,” I comfort, knowing I can just chuck my jeans on and answer the door quickly.

“Thank you,” she smiles before running her hands down my chest and letting her lips fall onto the side of my neck.

I jump out, run the towel around my body hurriedly, then rub it over my hair before making a dash for the bedroom and hopping clumsily into my jeans without worrying about any underwear, and finally make it to the door within a couple of minutes. I open it with as a loud huff leaves my body after rushing around upstairs and am greeted with a very unexpected sight; a man, a woman, and a small boy all standing there with stunned expressions at my half dressed appearance.

“Uh, hi,” the man starts, “is (Y/N) in?”

“Yes, yes, she’s just upstairs getting ready...” I answer a little awkwardly as I search my memory for names of family members she’s told me about.

Finally a set of names fits with these people in front of me and I relax a little as I prepare to introduce myself properly to the first of her family. Suddenly I realise how she must have felt when my brother turned up…

“I’m Gwilym,” I offer as I step aside and gesture for them to come in, “and you must be Jake,” I say as I look to the unimpressed child giving me a very powerful stink eye, “which makes you two Peter and Carrie.”

They file in through the hallway and take their shoes off as Peter looks at me with a smile and a nod.

“That’s right,” he replies as I shut the door, “good to know she hasn’t forgotten about us. Nice to meet you, we’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good I hope.”

“Mostly,” he shrugs with a smirk.

“What was delivered?” (Y/N) calls down the stairs.

“Us,” Peter laughs, “we’ll make ourselves comfy while you two sort yourselves out.”

I know I’m blushing as I quickly hop back up the stairs and (Y/N) is laughing into her cupped hands as she sees me in all my door answering glory.

“I had no idea,” she giggles as we go back into her room, “I swear I had no idea!”

“I can’t believe that just happened,” I laugh from utter disbelief, “they’ve just seen me half naked!”

“As long as you weren’t completely naked, then it doesn’t matter,” she grins, “go get your stuff out of the car while I get dressed and sort out those degenerates downstairs.”

“I’m telling you now, Jake hates me. If looks could kill, I’d be on the floor by now, he was not a happy bunny at all.”

“He does that a lot with new people, I wouldn’t worry,” she winks, “you’ll be his best friend in no time.”

I give her a worried look then put my top on to finally collect my things from the car, and by the time I return (Y/N) is at the bottom of the stairs waiting to give me a kiss as we pass. This is how I’ve seen it since the beginning, the little moments of giving one another a kiss at every possible opportunity, the reassuring touches as we go in different directions, albeit temporarily. I wonder if our wedding will be as I imagined it as well? Probably not by the look Jake had on his face when he saw me; it’s going to take a lot of charm to win that one over.

I change into fresh clothes then organise my things in the corner of her room so they’re tucked away neatly, and sit down on the bed to try and hear what’s happening downstairs. I shouldn’t, I know, but I can’t help myself and as their muffled voices come through the floorboards I hold my breath a little to hear what’s being said.

“Your mum said to check in on you, especially after the last few weeks with you being so ill,” Peter explains.

“I’m pretty sure she meant the odd text or call, not turning up at the doorstep,” (Y/N) laughs.

“That’s what family is for though, turning up at the exact wrong moment.”

“Hmm,” she hums back, “anyway, how are _you_? How’s school been?”

I hear Jake let out a deep, exhausted sigh at the thought of school and I can’t help but laugh at how old he seemed by his reaction; I remember (Y/N) saying he’s eight, but that was the exasperated breath of a teenager!

“Okay I guess.”

Definitely older than his years.

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad!” (Y/N) says cheerily.

“It is, we couldn’t play basketball because the teacher said that it was too slippery when it wasn’t!”

“Ouch, that does sound pretty bad actually,” she chuckles, “that sucks.”

“It does!”

“How about you and mummy and daddy stay for lunch so you can tell me all about just how sucky school is? I think there’s a pizza in the freezer somewhere, and it might just be pepperoni...”

“Yes! Can we?”

“If that’s okay with (Y/N), and Gwilym...” Peter says.

“Yeah, I’ll just go see if he’s ready,” (Y/N) replies, and I get half way down the stairs before she makes it out of the living room, “hey, I was just coming to see you.”

She nods towards the kitchen and I follow her in.

“I offered them lunch… are you comfortable with that?” she asks.

“Of course! Bloody hell, you were dropped in it with my brother and his family, so it’s only fair that I do the same, and at least it’s one less person. Although I’m pretty sure Jake hates me.”

“He doesn’t! He’s just… Well, protective I guess. His aunts have their own families and I’ve always been available to babysit, take him out for the day, and pick him up from school, so it’s nothing personal I’m sure,” she smirks, “he’s just wary of you because you’ve well and truly distracted me.”

“I can understand that,” I nod, “and I promise not to distract you too much.”

“Too late,” she shrugs, “now come on, these three are dying to see you with some more clothes on… unlike me,” she winks, whispering the last two words.

She sits me next to her cousin on the sofa while Jake and Carrie sit in the two armchairs, then (Y/N) takes the end of the couch and turns her body towards me, even hooking a leg over one of mine to face down the room and away from the television so the conversation can start. There’s talk of (Y/N) when she was younger, embarrassing stories from a time I wasn’t around, then Peter tells me about the family as a whole while (Y/N) and Carrie crack on with lunch in the kitchen, and eventually there’s questions; the inevitable questioning that I would have thought I’d have heard from her dad first, but I can see that Peter’s more like a brother than a cousin and I answer every single one honestly. I love her, and I can no longer imagine my life without her. Jake sits and watches me carefully, as if he’s looking for a sign of doubt in my face, but as soon as his dad’s happy with my answers and shakes my hand, he’s quick to want something on the telly.

“Can Jake put the telly on?” Peter shouts out.

“Yeah, put a film on or something,” (Y/N) shouts back.

Jake picks up the remote and starts scrolling through the films on one of the apps then stops on Bohemian Rhapsody and my heart jumps.

“Can I watch this?” he asks, noting the 12 certificate on it.

“Yeah, should be okay,” Peter nods, “we usually allow him to watch 12s as long as we’re with him,” he says quietly to me.

“It’s a good choice,” I smile, “you like Queen, Jake?”

“Yeah, (Y/N)’s always playing their songs!” he grins, finally warming up to me a little.

“What’s your favourite?”

“Fat bottom girls,” he giggles.

“You only like that because the title makes you laugh!” Peter chuckles.

“Makes me giggle too!” I laugh.

The film starts and I can feel myself begin to sweat a little when I know my name’s coming up but thankfully the entrance of Carrie and (Y/N) with plates of pizza distract everyone from the screen just in time. Everyone settles into the seats as we eat and (Y/N) takes up her original position facing down the lounge instead of at the television as Jake stares in awe at the film while he eats.

“What are we watching?” Carrie asks.

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” Jake says without averting his eyes.

“That’s your influence,” Carrie says as she rolls her eyes at (Y/N).

“Not even sorry about it,” she laughs.

There’s a slim chance that someone would recognise me, but thanks to the smooth face and large wig, I’m hanging onto the hope that it won’t happen. Conversation continues between bites of food and when we’re done eating (Y/N) is quick to collect the plates just as my face fills the screen, my finger tapping against my chin in an annoyed fashion as Brian, and when she turns to exit the room it takes no more than a second for her to recognise me, causing the plates to fall from her hands and land with a clatter on the floor.


	24. Chapter 24

Everything happens so quickly the scene almost blurs in front of me as Peter lunges forward to take hold of (Y/N)’s arms just in case she’s about to collapse and both myself and Jake start to pick up the plates and bits of food dropped onto the carpet.

“I’m fine,” she mutters, shrugging Peter off.

“Are you sure?” he asks, “you haven’t been out of hospital long.”

“I’m fine, stop worrying,” she repeats, turning to give him a reassuring smile, “they just slipped out of my hands. I’ll get a cloth.”

She steps over my arms without even looking down at me and my heart sinks as the film continues on the screen, my hands desperate to reach out to the remote that lies by Jake’s leg and ‘accidentally’ switch it off. I collect the plates up along with most of the bits of left over crust and thank Jake for his help before taking them out to the kitchen where I find (Y/N) rooting around in the cupboard under the sink for a clean cloth to wipe up the remnants of the mess.

“Are you okay?” I ask quietly as I tiptoe into the room and place the plates down on the side.

“That’s a really important piece of information I wish I’d known before now,” she says with a blank expression in a weirdly calm tone, “it’s not like the opportunity didn’t arise.”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry (Y/N), I-”

“Let’s talk about this when they’ve gone,” she interrupts as she goes to walk out of the room.

I reach out for her arm and she stops in her tracks but keeps looking straight ahead instead of turning towards me.

“I love you, (Y/N),” I remind her, panicking internally that this is the end.

She slowly turns her head to look up at me then steps towards my body with an unreadable look on her face, but she leans up and pecks my lips quickly, leaving me moving forward into a kiss that doesn’t come.

“Love you too,” she affirms, “come on.”

She takes my hand and we return to the lounge where Peter and Carrie are sat in an awkward silence while Jake sings along to the film, and after sitting me down on the couch she starts to scoop up the crumbs left on the carpet.

“Sorry about this,” she sighs as she gets up after collecting as much mess as possible, “right, does anyone want a drink?”

“No, no, we’d better get going anyway,” Peter smiles, “we’ve taken up enough of your day already and I think Jake’s had his fill of Queen for the day! You and Gwilym will have to come over for dinner one evening this week though, yeah?”

“Definitely,” we both nod at the same time.

“That would be lovely,” I carry on, “it’s been a pleasure to meet you all.”

Goodbyes are exchanged and Jake gives me a slightly reluctant handshake, but overall I think I survived the first meeting quite well, and I breathe a deep sigh of relief once I hear (Y/N) shut the front door when they leave. She comes in and flops down next to me on the couch with a loud breath and we sit in silence for a moment as I wait for her to start the conversation.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks softly with her head tilted to rest on the back cushion.

“Because every time the words came up into my mouth I ended up swallowing them back down again like a coward,” I answer honestly.

“This is a huge thing to keep from me and I’m not sure how to feel about it. Does this mean that there’s other things you’re not telling me? And what were your reasons for not bringing this up in the first place?” she asks calmly, wanting answers and not an argument.

She allows me to take her hand between mine as I shift in my seat to face her, and she lifts her head from the back cushion to look me in the eye as I consider my answer carefully.

“I promise you there is nothing else I’m keeping from you,” I start earnestly, “and as for my reasons, well, I enjoyed being this person you didn’t really know. We were thrown into the spotlight with that film and when that happens people are usually only interested in you because of the fame, not because of who you are. I didn’t want this bubble to burst. I wanted to keep it exactly as it was when we met; two strangers feeling this inexplicable connection between one another.”

“And you told Ben to keep quiet as well?”

“Yeah,” I exhale.

“Then why did you take me to the show where someone could have let slip? It was a miracle Luke didn’t say the name of the film when he congratulated you.”

“I took you there because it felt right. All of _this_ ,” I gesture towards the telly where the poster of the film stays on the screen, “is only temporary, but you… _us…_ We’re permanent, or at least I hope we are anyway. You ground me. When I’m with you I feel like nothing else matters; fame and money could disappear and I wouldn’t give a second thought to it as long as I have you by my side.”

She smiles a soft yet disbelieving smile at me and looks down at my lap where her hand is still clasped between mine.

“What are you thinking?” I enquire rather nervously.

“I just… I would have liked to have known all the facts before I fell in love with you. Like you said, this film became huge, so that means there’s a lot of eyes on you right now which also means that a lot of eyes have seen the photos of us together. I would have liked the opportunity to take all that in before it got past the point of no return. But now it’s too late.”

“Would you have felt differently about me if you had known?”

She lifts her gaze to mine and her hand to my cheek where she cups my face so gently I can barely feel her touch.

“Honestly? I couldn’t feel differently about you even if I tried. I just don’t like the thought of more people seeing me than I expected, it makes me feel awfully vulnerable.”

Her hand drops from my face to my chest and she takes a small pinch of the fabric of my t-shirt as she keeps her hand in the middle of my torso, then I lift one of my hands from my lap and place it on the back of her head softly so I can pull her towards me to kiss her forehead. Of course I hadn’t properly thought about what all this meant to her and yes, I had been a little selfish in my want to show her off, but now after hearing everything that happened to her and the effect it had on her perception of herself I feel terrible for putting her in the spotlight like that.

“I’m so sorry,” I mutter while my lips stay connected to her skin, “I didn’t think, I-”

“Don’t be sorry, just please be open with me. Knowing that you were a part of such a huge production wouldn’t have changed my opinion of you, I fell for you because of what happened when we met. Everything else is irrelevant and no matter how many screen credits you have, it doesn’t change how I feel about you. I love you because you’re the most compassionate, loving, kind hearted man I’ve ever met, and whenever I’m with you I forget about all the bad things.”

I lift her chin for her to look at me and I fight the urge to kiss her all over, lay her down on the sofa and make love to her again as I know this is the right moment for such a thing, but my goodness the need inside me is so strong right now, and I want to show her in every way just how much I’m absolutely obsessed with every single thing about her. I take a stuttered breath as thoughts of my skin against hers fight their way to the front of my mind, but the hand she has on my t-shirt tightens its grip on the fabric and pulls me down to her lips in a desperate kiss, and she’s soon on her back once again as I grind my hips into hers.

“(Y/N),” I exhale as her lips travel down the side of my neck.

I reach out to rest a hand on the arm of the couch and hit the remote that had been picked up off of the floor which sets the film off again and as I blindly press buttons to try and stop it (Y/N) breaks away from me with a light laugh.

“Fucking film!” I groan as I lift my body off of hers to stand up and point the damn thing at the telly to get it to stop.

“Don’t say it like that,” she chuckles as she sits up much to my disappointment, “is it your favourite project so far?”

I sit back down next to her with a huff of disappointment at our interrupted moment and she laughs as my obvious annoyance.

“It is, yeah,” I sigh with a smile, “although Top End Wedding is a close second due to the stunning locations we got to film in.”

“When is the premiere of that over here?”

“It’s, uh, it’s on Sunday. I’d love for you to come with me if you feel comfortable doing so. It’s not a _premiere_ so to speak, it’s just the first showing the UK, so there’s no flashing cameras and no press. We’ll slip in right before the film starts when everyone’s already seated and the lights are low then slip out right as the film ends.”

“I will forgive the late notice...” she smirks, “I’d be honoured to sneak into a cinema with you, just don’t try anything funny if we’re on the back row.”

“You know I can’t make any promises when it comes to that,” I scoff as I place a hand high up on her thigh.

“Mr. Lee!” she gasps with a wicked grin before moving to place a knee either side of my lap, sitting astride me with her bottom lip between her teeth.

“You know what that does to me,” I warn in a low voice.

“I can feel what it does to you,” she whispers with a nod, shuffling as far forward as she can.

“Are you okay with everything that happened earlier?” I question before we get distracted again.

“As long as I keep my social media private, keep rejecting follow requests, and I don’t go searching for anything, then I guess that’s all I can do, right?”

My hands rest on her thighs and stroke them gently and hers grip lightly onto my shoulders, and I look up at her with a smile.

“It’ll pick up every time we’re seen together though,” I say as my lips turn downward.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” she sighs, still obviously nervous about the thought of it all.

“Whatever comes our way, you know you’ll never have to go through it alone, I’ll always be here,” I reassure.

“That’s extremely comforting,” she smiles as one of her hands strokes my cheek gently, “thank you.”

“I’m really sorry that you had to find out about it all this way and that it made you feel so vulnerable; I never meant for it to make you feel like that.”

“Stop saying you’re sorry. It was just… unexpected. Now that I’m over the initial panic I can see why you kept quiet,” she replies with a loving gaze, “but if you’d like to put me at ease a little more, then I think I can come up with a way you can do just that...”

“Oh I’ve got my own ideas about it,” I wink as my hands grab onto her bum with a slap.


	25. Chapter 25

“Do I look okay?” I worry as I stand in front of (Y/N)’s full length mirror adjusting my polo top unnecessarily.

“You look gorgeous,” she replies while she buttons up her shirt dress behind me, “stop worrying.”

“Stop,” I say as I turn to face her.

“What?” she asks as her fingers come to a halt on the button that’s about to cover up her bosom.

I smile as I step towards her and move her hands away from the dress to take in just how beautiful she looks in her semi-dressed state, and I lift the hem of her dress that lies mid thigh so that it exposes her underwear and my fingers run up the soft cotton.

“Gwilym,” she chuckles lightly, “what are you doing?”

“How long have we got?”

“Half an hour.”

“Good.”

I walk behind her with my hands still keeping her dress up, then when I’m pressed against her back I move her forward towards the mirror and slide one arm across her belly to hold the fabric up and out of the way while my free hand glides past the waistband of her underwear until I can bury my fingers inside her.

“Oh god!” she gasps as she grips onto my forearm and rests her head back on my shoulder.

I nip and suck on her neck as my eyes stay focused on the mirror so I can see every single movement on her face while my fingers delve deep into her core, curling and pumping in a steady rhythm as my thumb circles her hardened nub at the same time. Her eyes fly open as I apply varying degrees of pressure to her sweet spot and she she looks at me dead in the eye in our reflection before squeezing her eyes shut and letting out a long moan of pure pleasure.

“You look stunning,” I whisper against her neck, “can you feel how hard I am watching you?”

“Yes,” she exhales, “yes. Fuck, Gwilym take me from behind.”

“Yeah?”

“Please,” she whines, and it’s a miracle I don’t blow at the sound of her so needy for me.

She turns to the side as soon as I remove my hand and pushes her underwear down as I unzip my jeans and free myself, and she leans over to brace herself against the end of the bed right before I push myself inside her slick walls. I reach around to resume my position on her clit and soon our skin meeting with every thrust is one of the only sounds in the room besides our intermittent pants and moans. There’s no worry as I feel myself empty inside her while she pulsates around my length after our chat about contraception yesterday, and the feel of every muscle twitch in her core is enough to make me dizzy with ecstasy.

“Where did that come from?” she pants with a grin as we separate and I help her stand upright.

“That came from my perpetual desire to be completely and utterly consumed by you,” I reply before walking out to the bathroom to clean up.

“How do you do that?” she asks when I return and it’s her turn to freshen up.

“Do what?”

“Make my knees weak with just one sentence? You have such a way with words, Gwilym, they make me shiver.”

“I do?” I chuckle, “I quite like the thought of making you weak at the knees.”

“Because I might drop to them and suck you off?” she winks.

“Well if you’re offering...” I smirk.

She lets out a laugh then leaves the room and we actually make it downstairs this time after she checks the time and notes we’re going to be late. This was going to be the second introduction of the week, except this time planned, and we were joining her best friend Jess and her fiancé Roger for lunch. I feel calmer than I did when we were sprung upon by her cousin and the initial meet with Jess and Roger at the bar is much more relaxed as we enjoy a drink before heading to our table.

“So what exactly are your intentions with (Y/N) then?” Jess asks with a deadly serious expression when we’ve taken our seats.

“Don’t be mean!” (Y/N) chuckles, “I didn’t give Roger the Spanish inquisition!”

“It’s alright,” I smile, “in all honesty my intentions are to marry her.”

“What about children?” Jess asks, which causes (Y/N) to drop her head into her hands in dismay.

“Two. Maybe three?”

“Where are you going to live? I can’t have you taking her to the other side of the world.”

“In the country somewhere, well within visiting range.”

“Hmm,” Jess nods, then turns to (Y/N) who is now looking up with a rather flushed face, “I like him.”

“Well thank goodness for that,” she sighs, “can we order some food now?”

“Yes please,” Roger breathes as he shakes his head from side to side, “I’m sorry, when she gets going, she doesn’t stop.”

“Hey!” Jess frowns, giving him sharp poke.

We order food and I’m regaled with stories about (Y/N) from school and her teenage years; everything from Jess falling backwards off of a bench from laughing to (Y/N) having absolutely no recollection of her friend shouting at Russell Tovey in a lift when they went on a theatre trip with the school.

“I don’t know why I did it,” Jess explains, “I just couldn’t stop myself.”

“I really wish I remembered that!” (Y/N) laughs, “and I really wish I remembered seeing Dominic Cooper. Bloody hell.”

“Wasn’t as dishy as he is now though...” Jess says as Roger rolls his eyes.

“True, he’s aged like a fine wine,” (Y/N) agrees, earning a questioning look from me.

“Oh really?!” I ask with raised eyebrows.

“She wouldn’t kick him out of bed for leaving crumbs is what she’s trying to say,” Jess grins from across the table.

“I am not!”

“Then what are you trying to say?” I question with a smirk.

“I’m trying to say I wish I’d never said anything now!”

“How do you cope when this type of conversation occurs, Roger?” I ask as the two women start talking in hushed tones about Dominic.

“I sit back, fold my arms and try to block it out,” he chuckles, “I’ve had a fair amount of practice over the past ten years.”

I smile at his answer and imagine what (Y/N) and I would be like in ten years; hopefully something similar to these two with their teasing and provoking but deep underlying love that shows when there’s brief affectionate touches and glances between them both. I’m hoping I’ll be (Y/N)’s plus one to their wedding, as by the sounds of it it’ll be like no other I’ve been to before, and I’d love to see them tie the knot. Maybe we’ll be engaged by then as well…

“Dessert anyone?” (Y/N) suggests as she passes me the menu and snaps me out of my daydream.

I place my hand on her thigh underneath the table and she slips her fingers between mine before giving my hand a squeeze. We order dessert and coffee then (Y/N) hurries off to the ladies as I sit and continue to talk to Jess and Roger.

“I’ve never seen her like this,” Jess comments, “it’s as if she were missing a piece of a jigsaw and now she’s found it. There was always some sadness behind her eyes but it’s disappeared. She’s waited a long time for this and I’m glad you came along when you did.”

“I meant it when I said my intentions are to marry her,” I smile in response, “I swear there must have been a (Y/N) shaped hole in my heart because I finally feel complete.”

“Why can’t you be that cute?” Jess asks as she turns to Roger, “that was beautiful!”

“I am! You just never take any notice of me when I’m being nice,” Roger retorts with a playful eye roll.

“What have I missed?” (Y/N) asks as she sits back down next to me again, shuffling her chair a little closer.

Before anyone can answer the desserts arrive along with the drinks and we’re all tucking in to the sweet afters in silence, only groans of how good the food is leaving our mouths every now again. I notice (Y/N) drop her spoon suddenly from the corner of my eye and she clutches onto her stomach as a pain shoots through it; this was only the second time this had happened since I arrived thankfully, but I drop what I’m eating and turn on my chair to face her.

“Are you alright?” I ask as I place one hand over her crossed arms and one on her back.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s easing off already,” she nods, taking a deep breath, “probably just ate too much.”

“No such thing,” Jess smiles from across the table, “you good?”

“Yeah I’m good,” (Y/N) nods.

I slide my hand away and Jess smiles at me as I get back to my waiting pudding, which I’m taking as a very good sign after sharing her observations about (Y/N) earlier, and I sip my coffee happily while we all finish up. Close friends worry me a little more than family sometimes, as they have no reason to pretend to like anyone and will be brutally honest, but Jess and Roger are genuinely lovely people who I’m very glad (Y/N) has in her life. When we get outside and say our goodbyes (Y/N) buries her face in my chest as she hugs me after they’ve walked away, and my arms wrap around her body tightly.

“Everything okay?” I ask before kissing the top of her head.

“Can we just go home, get naked and cuddle in bed?” she sighs.

“I… Yes… Yes we absolutely can,” I chuckle.


	26. Chapter 26

Here it was, far too soon, both the day of the premiere and the last day together in our little dream world where no one could bother us. We hadn’t done much since the lunch with Jess and Roger, we mostly spent it in the house wrapped up in one another in some form; whether it be through conversation, or physically, we couldn’t get enough of each other – still can’t. She’s coming to my house after the film and then going to work from mine instead as we’re unable to even get to saying something close to goodbye. If the commute is relatively easy, she may as well just move in so goodbye will never be longer than the duration of a work day.

“Are you alright?” I ask as she stares out of the car window with a lost look on her face.

“Yeah...” she sighs, “I just didn’t want this day to come. But then I did because of where we’re going… If you know what I mean.”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

“But then it’s not good to be wrapped up in a fantasy world like we’ve been in the past week is it? Because you’ll have to leave again at some point, and I’ve got work tomorrow morning. Everything keeps moving no matter how much we wish it would stay as it is.”

She takes a deep breath in then turns to me with an apologetic look as I quickly glance at her.

“That was really depressing and you do not need to hear such things on an exciting day like today,” she laughs, “so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I sigh, “it’s true, but we’ll find a way to make everything work like we did before I went away.”

“It’s going to be hard adjusting to odd weekends after the last nine days.”

“Unbelievably hard,” I agree, “the honeymoon period is well and truly over isn’t it?”

“It ended when you went to the other side of the world and took half of my heart with you,” she chuckles.

I blindly reach out for her as I take one hand off the wheel and manage to land on her thigh to give her a reassuring squeeze, and she is quick to lift my hand and kiss the back of it before gently pushing it away.

“So, shall I expect hoards of screaming fans if someone recognises you?” she asks after I spot her lifting a hand to dab her eye.

“I highly doubt there’ll be hoards, maybe just a small crowd...” I tease.

“I’ll make sure to step aside so I don’t get trampled,” she smirks.

We park up near to the cinema then make our way to back entrance, up a dark set of stairs, then eventually through a door that sits unnoticed at the back of the theatre where we’re able to slip into two empty seats at the end of the back row with me in the aisle seat. I shuffle down in the seat just as the film begins and mostly keep an eye on (Y/N) throughout the showing; watching her smile widen at some scenes, then her bottom lip wobble at the family focused moments, and when it comes to the wedding scene itself she turns to me then back at the screen with a smile. Her nearest hand slides across my thigh while she crosses the other over her chest to place right in the middle of mine, and I hear her sigh before she bites her lower lip lightly when it shows my own face tearing up on screen.

“What did you think?” I whisper against the side of her head when the film finishes and people start shuffling out of the dimly lit room.

“It was beautiful,” she replies in a hushed tone, “you were-”

“Excuse me, could we get a photo please?” three girls stand there with expectant faces after (Y/N) springs away from me a little too quickly for my liking, and I nod politely then stand as one of them struggles to take the selfie with all of us in it.

“Here, let me,” (Y/N) offers, and she takes the phone then snaps a couple of pictures for the girls.

“Thanks!” they chime before scuttling off down the stairs as another couple of people start ascending them towards us.

News travels fast and there’s a steady trickle of people coming up for photos, all of them brandishing phones at (Y/N) so she can take the picture; some of them even offering to take hers with me before I mention she’s my girlfriend, not a fan who’s found herself with a new part time job.

“Oh,” says one girl with a slightly confused expression, “really?”

(Y/N) smiles at the girl, turns to me, then silently picks up her bag and begins to walk down the stairs; I can’t blame her one bit and if I were her I would have dropped that girl’s phone instead of handing it back to her. A comment like that is completely unnecessary but that’s just how some people are, how some fans react to the news that, yes, I do have parts of my life that are private, and no, you and me are not going to happen. I quickly wrap up with the other fans and hurriedly make my way down the stairs and into the foyer where there’s no sign of her, so dip my head down slightly and walk outside to the main street, quickly glancing around until I spot her coming out of a coffee shop just a few doors down. She gives a wave as she balances two cups in her free hand and she turns the corner to the quieter street that leads to the car park.

“Bloody hell,” I exhale when I catch up to her, “guess I was sort of overestimating when I thought we’ve get in and out of there without anyone noticing.”

“You’ll be needing this after all that posing,” she smiles, handing me a cup of coffee.

“Thank you,” I sigh, “hey, stop a second… Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” she says cheerily, averting her gaze from mine as she lies.

“People can be shit sometimes, I-”

“Can we not talk about it just yet? It’s our last day and I don’t want it to be ruined by some random person who was an absolute…” she pauses as she tries not to say what I’m definitely thinking, “…insensitive person.”

“Good save,” I wink, “right, come on then, let’s get home and order that Chinese.”

The sofa is where we spend most of our evening; horizontal until the take away arrives and we’re forced to sit up to eat, but we soon resume our original position with me behind her and my arms cuddling her body tightly against mine.

“What were you going to say earlier before we were interrupted?” I ask as we stare at the telly but don’t pay full attention.

“About the film?”

“Yeah.”

“I was going to say that you were the definition of a perfect husband and it couldn’t have taken a lot of acting to play such a part. It truly was beautiful, thank you for sharing it with me. You had me swooning throughout the whole thing and all I wanted to do was jump in your lap and hold onto you as snugly as I could just so I knew I hadn’t dreamt up the last few months.”

I sweep the hair back from her face and kiss her cheek, then hook one of my legs over hers to keep her close.

“What are you doing for Christmas?” I ask.

“For… What? It’s June,” she laughs.

“And? What are you doing for Christmas?”

“Just staying at home with my parents I imagine. What are you doing?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking...”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“Very… I thought maybe you could spend Christmas here. Our parents can come over to have dinner and stay for boxing day. My brother and everyone can pop over if they’re not at Kelly’s mum’s. I’m not a _terrible_ cook, I can do a roast. Maybe if tomorrow’s commute goes well you can spend more time here, move some things in or something… If you want.”

“Gwilym?” she questions as she shuffles around so she can face me.

“Yes,” I croak nervously as my face starts to heat up under her gaze.

“What _exactly_ are you trying to say?”

“Would you possibly consider, uhm, moving in?” I ask, my eyes darting around the room anxiously.

“That’s an absolutely crazy question.”

“It is, you’re right.”

“So naturally my answer is yes.”

“It is?”

“Uh-huh,” she nods.

“Really?!” I ask, knowing exactly how ludicrous my question sounded.

“If you want me to change my answer, then I will...”

“No! Please don’t!” I laugh, “it’s just… Well, this is crazy.”

“Yep.”

“People will judge this decision to within an inch of its life and always come up with the same conclusion; that we’re rushing things.”

“Yep, and I’m sure the fact we’ve only known one another for almost four months will be the hot topic of conversation.”

“Oh, that’s a guarantee!”

“But then again, we’re not doing this for anyone else apart from ourselves and the opinions of others shouldn’t really affect our decisions unless it’s life threatening or something… Are you sure about this? Did you really mean to ask that?”

“Of course I am! And I’ve been meaning to ask this since the day I met you,” I laugh, knowing that there was no lie in that sentence whatsoever.

“You’re laughing, but you’re not lying are you?” she asks as she studies my face carefully.

“Not one bit.”

She grins before she kisses me and I can feel her smile as our lips lock together, our tongues meeting in the middle to begin a soft dance, and our bodies moving against one another tightly, trying to feel as much as we can of one another and be as close as humanly possible. This passion is like nothing I’ve felt before, it’s unending, it’s intoxicating, and the best thing about it is that she feels it too. Her hand glides up my clean shaven cheek and her thumb strokes along my skin before she pulls away from the kiss with a shy smile.

“This is really happening isn’t it?”

“It is,” I chuckle with a pure, giddy excitement, “it really is.”


	27. Chapter 27

The problem with saying that we wouldn’t have to spend more than a work day away from one another was that my work days are certainly not the same as hers; something that completely escaped my mind when I got so caught up in the moment. Of the four weeks we’d been living together, three of them had seen me travelling back and forth to Scotland, which ultimately meant that of the 28 days she’d been at mine, I’d only been there a total of 13. It’s far from ideal for both of us as her adjustment period in the home has mostly consisted of voicemails and texts asking where she can find things and a very apologetic end as she realises I’m busy filming.

\- _Really sorry to bother you_ _ **again**_ _, but_ _I’ve forgotten what bloody bin to put out tonight! Can you let me know asap please. Love you xxx_

Five hours later my reply finally gets sent.

_\- Don’t ever be sorry, it’s recycling tonight. I feel so shit leaving this down to you, you shouldn’t have to be worrying about bins, you should only have to be worrying about getting to work on time after a passionate night of love making with me. Love you xxx_

She rings within a couple of minutes and I hesitate a little before answering.

“I’m so sorry,” I say upon accepting the call.

“You told me not to be, so now I’m telling you not to be!” she replies cheerily, “I’ve put the correct bin out now, so all is right with the world. Then when you get back you pleasure me for hours upon hours until I gasp and say ‘oh my goodness I’m going to be late for work!’ okay?”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Good. So how’s filming going?” she sighs, and I imagine her laying back on _our_ bed.

“Really well thanks, we might be able to wrap up a day or two earlier than planned. How’s work?”

“That’s great news! Work’s good, although I’m trying to figure out when I can grab some time off between everyone else’s holidays.”

“Well when you book something, let me know and we’ll get away from everyone for a while. Speaking of… Have your parents forgiven me for taking their only child an hour away from them?” I ask tentatively.

We had several meets before (Y/N) officially moved in, but even though they gave out the very warm and kind vibes that they naturally exude, I felt a bit of tension bubbling beneath the surface and (Y/N) has admitted her parents were extremely sceptical of all this working out for the best. We’re basically just down the road, except I will admit that the road in question is constantly full of traffic and was possibly made by the devil himself, so the journey was more like 2 hours at the best of times.

“They have! I think the enormous bunch of flowers for my mum along with the bottle of red wine for my dad _really_ helped your case,” she chuckles.

“Excellent news!” I cheer, “I really miss you. The timing of all this could have been so much better.”

“I miss you too, and then again it could have been so much worse...”

“Stop trying to make me feel better about leaving you all alone in a house you’re still unfamiliar with!” I laugh.

“I’ve settled in _very_ nicely with the bed, we’re best friends now, and the couch as well come to think of it. Although I do sort of feel like I’m house sitting for someone...”

“That’s the last thing I wanted you to feel,” I sigh.

“I know, I know, I wasn’t saying that to make you feel bad, I just wanted to be honest. I feel like a bit of an imposter being here on my own.”

“Has someone said something?”

“Yeah, quite a few people seem to have an opinion on it, in fact. And I don’t mean our families or friends.”

Fuck. Fucking hell. I’d seen a couple of things on social media but I have to let these things wash over me or I’d be a ball of pent up rage for the rest of my life. (Y/N) had never had to experience such a thing, never should, but here she is looking at what I imagine to be similar things and wondering what the hell she’s done to deserve this whilst being completely alone.

“Like who then? Insignificant people who know absolutely nothing of our relationship by any chance?”

“Well, yes, but-”

“You’ve got to stop looking at that kind of stuff, you just have to let it pass you by. I know it’s easy for me to say after having years of practice, but you’ve really got to try.”

“I _am_ trying! But I haven’t had years of practice yet and I’m still finding my feet when it comes to being so exposed like this! I’m a nobody who is now being scrutinised to fuck by people I’ve never met. That girl from the screening we went to who did the ‘oh, really?’ line when you said I was your girlfriend has put a nice post up on social media saying that _I_ was rude for walking away after she did that. _Me! I’m the rude one!_ After everyone treating me as if I were your personal photographer, _I’m_ rude for stepping away when I was pushed over the edge?!”

I can hear the despair in her voice and I know this has been a long time coming when I catch the end of a faint sob after she must have held the phone away from her face for a minute. She’d never be rude to anyone, she had her chance with that girl and she chose to smile and walk away; she doesn’t deserve any of this.

“There are a lot of positive comments too,” I remind her softly as I come to a complete loss for words.

“You know me, Gwilym, if there are five comments with only one being nasty, that’s the only one I’m going to remember. It just brings back… Everything,” she sighs the last word in exasperation.

“I promise you though, the positive outweighs the negative by far. Others who came up to us that day defended you on that post, I-”

“You saw it?”

“I was… Made aware of it, yes.”

“By who?”

“Ben.”

“ _Ben_ , Ben?”

“Yes, he came across it and sent it my way. Only because he knows how you feel; he does the same, if he ever sees anything good about himself he doesn’t read it, but that one negative comment or article, and he’s straight on it.”

“Right.”

“Talk to him if you want, I’ll give him your number and you can talk to someone who knows exactly what it’s like. Would that be good?”

I’m not going to lie, I’m clutching at straws with this, I’ve never had to deal with such things to this extent; I’ve never been in (Y/N)’s position, and I’ve never been in Ben’s either. He had a lot of shit when he was in the soap world, usually peaking when he had topless scenes that he felt were glossing over his acting talents, and when he told me all this I realised this is something I’ve never had to worry about, my jobs have been completely different and mostly stayed under the radar from any extreme criticism thankfully.

“Yeah, sure,” she replies quietly.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t know what else to say. I’m here though, always, if you need to vent or shout, whatever it is you need to do, I’m here for you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“You’re where you belong, it’s just unfortunate that I’m not there with you right now. And you have no idea how much I want to be there.”

“Yeah,” she sighs, “I want you here too.”

There’s no positive affirmation from her this time, no ‘you’ll be home soon, don’t worry’, and I know this has really hit a nerve with her. Worst of all, there’s nothing I can do, I can’t even give her a hug right now and this is the worst part about everything; I wasn’t there when she was unwell and I’m not there again. At this rate god knows where I’ll be when she goes into labour.

“Let me know as soon as you’ve booked some time off work, yeah? I’ve got an idea of where I want to take you, and it’s still in this country so you don’t have to worry about a passport or anything.”

“And it’ll be just us two?” she asks nervously.

“Just us two,” I confirm, “I promise. And I’m paying.”

“You don’t need to do that, we’ll split it down the middle.”

“Nope, I insist that this is on me. I want to make up for all of this.”

“All of what? It’s hardly your fault,” she reassures half-heartedly.

“For never being there when you need me. I know this isn’t the first time and knowing my luck it won’t be the last.”

“It’s just bad timing, that’s all. Anyway, I’d better go, speak soon.”

“I’ll ring tomorrow morning, love you.”

The call ends without a reply and even though she’d already said she loves me too earlier in the conversation, it still feels like a dagger to the heart when there was only silence. I look out of the window of the hotel room to gaze upon the new surroundings, feeling lost and so very far away from where I should be, and I realise that this must be how she’s feeling right now after seeing these unsupportive comments. I take out my phone and do something I never usually do, but search for what she’s seen about us moving in together and it doesn’t take long to come across it. A sigh escapes my lips as I flop down on the bed, and quickly exit the app to give Ben a call; I need eyes on her, even if they aren’t mine.


End file.
